Continuous scroll decoration has a very long history, and such patterns were an essential element of classical and medieval decoration. The use of scrolls in ornament goes back to at least the Bronze Age; geometric scroll ornament has been found in the Palace of Knossos at Minoan Crete dating to approximately 1800 BC, perhaps drawing from even earlier Egyptian styles; there were also early examples in Mesopotamia. Geometrical scroll patterns like the Vitruvian scroll are found very widely in many cultures, and probably often developed independently.