Hardly any other period in prehistory produced such a wide variety of decorative motifs as the Bronze Age. Recurring patterns of triangles, meandering bands, line formations or rows of dots adorn pottery, clothing, bronze objects, house walls and even chipboard boxes. The idea that these decorations might have a deeper meaning, perhaps revealing something about their owners or their clan or family affiliations, is tempting. Do they perhaps symbolise the Alps, the lake, the rivers? Are they marks of rank or of the maker? Science has not yet solved this mystery.