Celtic Knotwork Gifts
In Pre-Celtic Britain, there are many ancient places that were elaborately and painstakingly decorated and carved with many different styles of celtic knotwork which contain spiral, zigzag, diamond, line and curve, but nowhere do these separate symbols and designs overlap or interlace, and nowhere is there to be found an example of knotwork. It should also be noted that these elaborate designs and symbols are not Celtic. They were carved into the rocks by an unknown race of megalith builders thousands of years before the Celtic culture arrived.
Interlace borders and panels are based upon the plaiting art of the Chinese as far back as a few thousand years BC Most peoples surrounding the Mediterranean, the Black and Caspian Seas. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Moors, Persians, Turks, Arabs, Syrians, Hebrews, and North African tribes have also used this form in one way or another on stone, metal, and wood.
The only interlaced work in Egyptian, Greek and Roman decorative art is the plait - it was never modified. Derek Bryce in his book Symbolism of the Cross suggests that the breaks may have been included in order to imitate nature, which like a flower may look perfection from a distance but close inspection reveals that no one petal is the same.
