TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 897 



Christianity {circa a.b. 450) were influenced, first by the Italo-Byzantine art, which 

 came in with the importation of the illuminated AISS. used in the service of the 

 Church, and subsequently by the coming in contact of the Anglo-Saxon and 

 Scandinavian conquering races with the Celtic and other populations already 

 inhabiting the British Isles. Early Christian art in this country is essentially 

 decorative, and to a lesser extent symbolic. The conventional grouping and 

 general treatment of the figure-subjects show that they are obviously barbarous 

 copies of Byzantine originals. If any definite conclusions are to be arrived at with 

 regard to the evolution of early Cliristian art in Great Britain, it must be by a 

 careful examination and comparison of the minute details of the ornament. The 

 ornament consists of the following elements: — 



(1) Interlaced work "| 



(2) Key patterns I rjeometrical 



(3) Step patterns f ^geometrical. 



(4) Spirals J 



(5) Zoiimorphic designs "1 r? j. j i. • i i j 

 6 Anthropomorphic designs i Suggested by animal, human, and 



(7) PhyUomorphic designs J vegetable forms. 



The possible sources whence each of these different patterns was derived are next 

 to be considered. These are divided into the native or imported styles of deco- 

 rative art existing in Great Britain previous to the introduction of Christianity — 

 namely, the art of the ages of stone, bronze, and iron, and Romano-British art ; and 

 the external sources, made accessible after a.d. 450 — namely, the Italo-Byzantine, 

 Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian styles. The spirals are to be traced to a 'late 

 Celtic ' source in the late iron age, the interlaced work and phyllomorphic designs 

 to an Italo-Byzantine source, the step patterns possibly to a Saxon source, the 

 zoomorphic designs perhaps to a Scandinavian source, and the key patterns to the 

 classical fret adapted to suit the diagonal setting-out lines usually employed in 

 drawing early Christian ornament in Great Britain. 



4. On an Implement of Hafted Bone, with a Hippopotamus Tooth inserted, 

 from Calf Hole, near Grassington. By Rev. E. Jones. 



6. The Prehistoric Evolution of Theories of Punishment, Revenge, and 

 Atonement. By Rev. G. Hartwell Jones. 



Even the brilliant civilisation of Kulturvolher retains traces of a primitive bar- 

 barism. While the investigations of "VVaitz, Tylor, Lubbock, &c., into the life of 

 Naturmlker are instructive in showing the growth of thought, the origin of institu- 

 tions must be looked for among ' Aryans.' Wherever they come from, or, more 

 correctly speaking, whenever the phase of civilisation associated with the name 

 Aryan came into existence, their high capacity for development was evoked or 

 stimulated by contact with Semitic or Hamitic races. 



A further attempt is made here, by the aid of (i.) philology, (ii.) archaeology 

 in its widest sense, to bridge the gulf between the rude notions of the Uruolk and 

 distinct developments in Southern Europe. 



The features considered here are found, not only among Kidturvolker, but also 

 among unprogressive races from the Antipodes to Archangel. Yet, not only are 

 there differences between ' Aryan ' and Semitic conceptions, but even deviations 

 among branches of the same family of races. 



Though it has been maintained, on the high authority of Ottfried Miiller and 

 Philippi, that the Greek legal systems originated independently, Leist, no doubt 

 rightly, traces them to a common inheritance. 



The richness of the sources varies with the mental endowments, the intellectual 

 activity, and the literary monuments of the several races. 



The question of punishment, &c., had its (1) religious, (2) secular aspect. 



As among many rude races in modern times there is no system of publie 



1893. 3 M 



