he
Tohono O'otam and Pima tribes of Southern Arizona weave baskets
from dried leaves, stems and roots
of desert plants, and the labyrinth appears on these as a design
known as the House of Iitoi or Siuku Ki; its significance is explained
in the myth of Iitoi, the ancestral founder of the tribes whose
spirit resides at the top of a mountain. From time to time Iitoi's
spirit, in the form of a small man, would sneak into the villages
and cause trouble. Making good his escape, Iitoi so confused
the people with all the deceiving turns on the track returning
to his
home. Thus on the path to the centre of the labyrinth one
can see Iitoi and trace the mysterious and bewildering journey
leading
back to the peak of Baboquivari, a sacred centre of the tribal
lands.
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Kom Ombo, Egypt |
A coin from Crete |
In Europe the labyrinth symbol is widespread
and varied in its forms. Prehistoric labyrinths are found
carved on rockfaces at Pontevedra, Spain and at Val Camonica in
northern
Italy. Attributed to the late Bronze Age, an example from
Nanque, northern Italy has a pair of eyes pecked at its centre
to produce
a face staring out from the labyrinths centre. A number of labyrinth
carvings, on boulders and occasionally in tombs or other sacred buildings,
have been found throughout
Europe, but accurate dating is difficult.
