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REVIEW BY BRIAN HOGGARD
The title of this book suggests it will look at the occurrence of the daisy-wheel symbol in gravestone art, which it partly does. The geographical area surveyed for the book is principally the north-east of America and Canada, but there is analysis of the symbol across the ancient Mediterranean and British Isles.
As an analysis of the distribution and extent of the symbol in northern America, this book is a must-read for graveyard historians. In terms of interpretation of the daisy-wheel symbol, it comes to no clear conclusion, and the author acknowledges that research is at an early stage.
Much of this book strays into discussion of other types of protection marks and apotropaic objects. What we have in these sections is a limited literature survey rather than deep consideration of those practices which, particularly in the case of the ‘VV’ symbol, seems to over-represent the views of certain authors.
Notwithstanding my comment above, this is an interesting book that attempts to narrate the use of this symbol in funerary contexts over the last couple of millennia.
Daisy Wheel, Hexfoil, Hexafoil, Rosette: Protective marks in gravestone art
Robyn S Lacy
Berghahn Books (£99 hardback, £27.95 e-book)
ISBN 978-1805396635 / eISBN 978-1805396673
