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Ancient Board Game Proves Tabletop Fun Has Been Around For Centuries
Archaeologists from the University Museum of Bergen found the remains of an ancient board game in an early Iron Age grave, showing that people have been having tabletop fun outside of chess for centuries. This new find joins a long list of ancient board games discovered across the world in countries like Russia, Egypt, and Scotland. It is further evidence that people have been finding ways to amuse themselves for time immemorial, and gaming has always been a prime option.
When one thinks of ancient history, board games rarely first come to mind. Instead, modern people usually envision ancient battles with swords and chariots, or famous and enduring works of art. When visiting a history museum, one would be lucky to find the remains of ancient daily life as opposed to more attractive likes of ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and roomfuls of Classical art. But these more well-known artifacts are not the only things archaeologists have discovered from the ancient world. Numerous ancient civilizations have made board games, and likely enjoyed them with just as much excitement as players of Dungeons & Dragons do today.
The newest ancient board game find comes from a small cairn in Ytre Fosse in Western Norway, shared in an informative video published by Fornminne Vern. A team from the University Museum of Bergen excavated the cairn last month and identified it as an early Iron Age cremation patch. Alongside 3 ceramic pots, the team found 18 disc-shaped gaming pieces and a four-sided die, all made of bone. These pieces date back more than 1700 years. The die, unlike the conventional six-sided dice with which modern gamers are familiar, is shaped like a long, skinny rod, probably literally rolled across the table when it was used.
The team compared these finds to a similar excavation in Denmark, where an entire game board was discovered, in addition to dice similar to those found in Ytre Fosse. These games were likely inspired by the ancient Roman game Ludus latruncolorum (or "game of colored checkers") and probably went on to inspire the more well-known Viking age game Hnefatafl. Hopefully, this excavation will lead to a more in-depth and thorough history of the development of dice-based board games.
As rare a find as an ancient board game is, they should be treasured just as much as ancient Egyptian statues and medieval suits of armor. Thousands of years separate modern people from our ancient ancestors, and that divide that can never truly be crossed. However, the existence and study of these board games proves that no matter how far removed people are from their shared past, there are many concrete things that we'll always have in common. Ancient people gathered around the table and played board games for fun just like we do today, and it's a stirring reminder of humanity's very deep roots.
