Michigan tablets imagery

Year: 1800 · Places: Gulf Coast, Ayiti, Africa

SUMMARYMichigan tablets imagery (Tito's set, incl. "Michigan Artifacts photo 918"): two crowned profiles facing each other (Egyptian-style headdress vs. feather crown); columned palace facade with arched doors and a central dome; eye in rays ("mystic symbol"), zodiac wheels, sun discs; archers in crested headdresses. Critic: Eye of Providence (1800s Masonic) and a neoclassical facade point to an 1890s forger. Lens: the eye motif is older in the Americas (Mississippian hand-and-eye, about 1200 CE, Record; the round stone disk in the set shows it); feather crowns = American royalty; facade = Ayiti-style royal palace. Specific test added to the Michigan case: were forgers copying Masonic symbols, or Masons copying older American symbols? ON TRIAL (lab dating of clay and copper, tool marks).
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