Archaeologists have discovered a rare board game piece from the 7th century which casts raucous Anglo-Saxon feasts in a new light.
The archaeologists, from the University of Reading, were excavating an Anglo-Saxon royal great hall in Lyminge, Kent when they unearthed the gaming piece in the foundations.
The disc-shaped gaming piece is made of bone and has a small bronze rivet in its centre and is believed to have been used in a game similar to backgammon or draughts.
However the fact the piece was discovered in a ‘gaming setting', an Anglo-Saxon royal hall, suggests the people at the time played board games while enjoying the kind of lively feasts described in Beowulf, the earliest surviving piece of important English literature.
The Anglo-Saxons, the Germanic ancestors of the English people and the founding fathers of the English nation, are also known for making stunning jewellery and pottery, numerous examples of which were also found at Lyminge.
Were Anglo Saxon parties less wild than we think? 'Extremely rare' board game piece reveals a more restrained side to raucous mead-drinking feasts
Archaeologists from the University of Reading found the games piece in the foundations of a royal great hall in Lyminge, Kent
It is made from a hollow cylinder of bone that has been smoothed, with lathe-turned end caps secured with a small bronze rivet in the centre
Experts believe it would have been used for a game similar to that of backgammon or draughts, and the king could have played it after dinner
By Sarah Griffiths
22 November 2013
Daily Mail
An ‘extremely rare’ board game piece from the seventh century has been unearthed that casts raucous Anglo Saxon feasts in a new light.
The draughts piece was discovered in the foundations of a royal great hall in Lyminge, Kent, and archaeologists believe it shows a more cerebral side to Anglo Saxon festivities, which are thought to have involved a great deal of mead drinking.
It is made from a hollow cylinder of bone that has been smoothed with lathe-turned end caps and secured with a small bronze rivet in the centre.
The games piece is made from a hollow cylinder of bone that has been smoothed with lathe-turned end caps and secured with a small bronze rivet in the centre
The games piece is the first to be found away from a burial site and the first of its kind to be discovered for 130 years.
Experts from the University of Reading believe it would have been used for a game similar to that of backgammon or draughts.
The Anglo Saxons had a strong tradition of playing board games and individual gaming pieces - and sometimes complete sets - have been discovered in burials of the period.
However the fact the piece was discovered in a ‘gaming setting', an Anglo Saxon royal hall, suggests the people at the time played board games while enjoying the kind of lively feasts described in Beowulf.
The draughts piece was discovered in the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon royal great hall in Lyminge, Kent (pictured) and archaeologists believe it casts a more cerebral side to Anglo Saxon festivities, which are thought to have involved a great deal of mead drinking
It is difficult to establish the precise nature of the games played, but archaeological evidence from the Germanic continent, the cultural home of the Anglo Saxons, provides clues, according to the archaeologists.
Both 'tabula', a form of backgammon, and 'latrunculi', a board game similar to draughts, can be traced to these regions and were likely transported to England during the fifth century as a consequence of Anglo Saxon migrations.
Dr Gabor Thomas and his team at the university also uncovered items of jewellery, numerous fragments of luxury vessel glass and pits with animal bones, confirming that feasting and social display were integral to Lyminge's role as a place of royal ceremonial events and gatherings during the late 6th and 7th centuries.
Dr Thomas said: ‘Our excavation is providing an unprecedented picture of life in an Anglo Saxon royal complex.
Fragments of precious Anglo-Saxon glass vessels are pictured. The glasses were not designed to be stood up like at dinner parties today, but would have been continually passed around and topped up by servants, Dr Thomas said
‘Gaming, along with feasting, drinking, and music, formed one of the key entertainments of the Anglo Saxon mead-hall as evoked in the poem Beowulf.
‘The discovery of Anglo Saxon gaming pieces and gaming boards has previously been restricted to male burials, particularly those of the Anglo Saxon elite.
‘To find such a well preserved example in the hall, where such board games were actually played, is a wonderfully evocative discovery.’
Much of our understanding of Anglo Saxon socialising comes from the epic poem Beowulf, where feasts are described as being mead drinking marathons, where drinks were spilled as glass cups had round bottoms and drinking games were played while music was played.
Dr Thomas and his team at the university, also uncovered items of jewellery. Archaeologists have described the find, pictured, as a miniature radiate headed brooch
Dr Thomas told MailOnline that precious glass vessels were not designed to be stood up like at dinner parties today, but would have been continually passed around and topped up by servants.
'They drank to get inebriated but it was a sociable activity... and there was little requirement to put the glasses down.'
He said a royal feat would have included plenty of mead and possibly wine and archaeological remains show that lots of meat - particularly suckling pig - would have been on the menu.
'Imagine rich food along with drink and music and heroic poetry being recited - there was a lot going on,' he said.
Dr Thomas believes gaming was an important part of the feasts and the king might have played other members of the court and it would have been a competitive activity.
The fact the piece was discovered in a 'gaming' setting, an Anglo-Saxon Royal Hall in Lyminge, Kent, suggests the people at the time played board games as well as enjoyed the kind of raucous feats described in Beowulf
The founding fathers of the English nation and the ancestors of the English people were not only a warrior race but they also liked playing board games
'It was lively and not too different from Christmas parties these days,' he added.
Lyminge's royal complex was first discovered in 2012 when an Anglo Saxon feasting hall was unearthed - the first such building to be excavated in its entirely in over a generation.
The researchers discovered a sequence of three timber halls, bearing unusual and highly elaborate architectural features. This included mortar and crushed tile floors previously only seen in the earliest generation of Anglo Saxon churches and massive entrance portals on a scale previously unparalleled in Anglo Saxon England.
‘By combining these fascinating structural remains with a stunning array of artefacts, our excavations are providing new insights into the role played by Anglo Saxon royal complexes in forging kingdoms and royal dynasties during this key period in English history,’ Dr Thomas added.
Extract from Beowulf
Original Old English
þa wæs Hroðgare heresped gyfen,
wiges weorðmynd, þæt him his winemagas
georne hyrdon, oðð þæt seo geogoð geweox,
magodriht micel. Him on mod bearn
þæt healreced hatan wolde,
medoærn micel, men gewyrcean
þonne yldo bearn æfre gefrunon,
ond þær on innan eall gedælan
geongum ond ealdum, swylc him god sealde,
buton folcscare ond feorum gumena.
ða ic wide gefrægn weorc gebannan
manigre mægþe geond þisne middangeard,
folcstede frætwan. Him on fyrste gelomp,
ædre mid yldum, þæt hit wearð ealgearo,
healærna mæst; scop him Heort naman
se þe his wordes geweald wide hæfde.
He beot ne aleh, beagas dælde,
sinc æt symle. Sele hlifade,
heah ond horngeap, heaðowylma bad,
laðan liges; ne wæs hit lenge þa gen
þæt se ecghete aþumsweorum
æfter wælniðe wæcnan scolde.
Modern English
Then to Hrothgar was granted glory in battle, mastery of the field; so friends and kinsmen gladly obeyed him, and his band increased to a great company. It came into his mind that he would command the construction of a huge mead-hall, a house greater than men on earth ever had heard of, and share the gifts God had bestowed on him upon its floor with folk young and old – apart from public land and the persons of slaves. Far and wide (as I heard) the work was given out in many a tribe over middle earth, the making of the mead-hall. And, as men reckon, the day of readiness dawned very soon for this greatest of houses. Heorot he named it whose word ruled a wide empire. He made good his boast, gave out rings, arm-bands at the banquet. Boldly the hall reared its arched gables; unkindled the torch-flame that turned it to ashes. The time was not yet when the blood-feud should bring out again sword-hatred in sworn kindred.
Read more: Were Anglo Saxon parties less wild than we think? 'Extremely rare' board game piece reveals a more restrained side to raucous mead drinking feasts | Mail Online
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