Gaming Piece Discovered in Anglo-Saxon Royal Hall
Friday, November 22, 2013
KENT, ENGLAND—A seventh-century gaming piece has been recovered from an Anglo-Saxon royal side hall in the village of Lyminge. Gabor Thomas of Reading University said that the beautifully crafted piece, made of a hollow piece of bone closed with a wooden cap held in place with a bronze pin, may have been imported from the Lombard kingdom. “It is very probably a stray loss, perhaps cast away in disgust by a king with a reputation for being a very bad loser,” Thomas speculated. This is the first Anglo-Saxon gaming piece to have been found in a residence—they are usually discovered in men’s graves. Pottery, animal bones, bronze horse harness pieces, and jewelry made from Roman glass have also been unearthed at the site.
Advertisement
Panama’s golden grave, Viking dental exams, an unusual papyrus preservative, playing games in ancient Kenya, and a venerable Venetian church
Within a knight’s grasp
Advertisement
Advertisement