Page:Troja by Heinrich Schliemann.djvu/242

borate M. Emile Burnouf's^[1] opinion, that the 卍 represents the two pieces of wood laid across, in the junction of which the holy fire was produced by friction, and that the mother of the holy fire is Mája, who represents the productive force in the form of a woman. This appears to us the more probable as we also see a 卍 on the vulva, of the idol No. 226, p. 337, in Ilios; and very often crosses, as for example, a cross with the marks of four nails on the vulva of the owl-faced vase No. 986, p. 521; a simple cross on that of the vase No. 991, p. 523, &c. Instead of the usual wings, we see on the vase No. 101 mere stumps, which do not appear to have been longer; three incised lines round the back seem to indicate necklaces; two other lines run across the body; there is a groove at their juncture.

No. 102 is a curious object of ivory with sixteen rude circular furrows, which seem to have been made by a flint-saw; the use of this object is a riddle to us, for it can hardly have been used in ladies' needle-work. Another curious object is No. 103, which is hollow and has three perforations and two circular incisions, apparently made by a flint-saw. The object may have served as a handle to some small bronze instrument.