Spirals

As a symbol

Spirals occur commonly in pre-Columbian art in Latin and Central America. The more than 1,400 petroglyphs (rock engravings) in Las Plazuelas, GuanajuatoMexico, dating 750-1200 AD, predominantly depict spirals, dot figures and scale models. In Colombia, monkeys, frog and lizard-like figures depicted in petroglyphs or as gold offering-figures frequently include spirals, for example on the palms of hands. In Lower Central America, spirals along with circles, wavy lines, crosses and points are universal petroglyph characters. Spirals also appear among the Nazca Lines in the coastal desert of Peru, dating from 200 BC to 500 AD. The geoglyphs number in the thousands and depict animals, plants and geometric motifs, including spirals.