This book discusses the origins of ornamental art -- illustrated by the oldest examples, dating mostly from the paleolithic and neolithic ages, and considered from the theory-of-symmetry point of view. Because of its multidisciplinary nature, it will interest a wide range of readers: mathematicians, artists, art historians, architects, psychologists, and anthropologists.

The book represents the complete analysis of plane symmetry structures, so it can be used by artists as a guide to the creation of new symmetry patterns. Some parts of the contents (such as Chapter 4, about conformal...