Cultural Insights from Pattern Symmetries

The authors have published texts and studies documenting the procedure for and application of the use of plane pattern symmetries to classify cultural patterns. This chapter contrasts the difference in cultural insights gained between pattern studies that simply describe patterns by motif type and shape and those that describe the way motifs are repeated by plane pattern symmetries. Culturally produced patterns can be described in many ways, each useful for different purposes. We describe how early pattern studies aimed at designers of textiles and wallpapers created classificatory groupings that were descriptively idiosyncratic, grouping patterns by motif similarities that are arranged by very different symmetries. We then cite several recent studies that illustrate how a symmetry rather than a motif similarity grouping reveals new insights from continuities, changes and preferential symmetry use that can enhance our understanding and interpretation of the material.