Viking Bronze Inlaid Lead Hnefatafl Gaming Piece

850-1066 A.D.

5/8 in. (22.3 grams, 17 mm).

A conical gaming piece or trade weight with an inlaid bronze disc at the top. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Found Wolcot near Folkingham, Lincolnshire, UK, on Tuesday, 1st April 2008.
Property of a Scottish private collector.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.LIN-88E805.

Literature

Cf. Pollington, S., Mead Hall – Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England, Hockwold-cum-Wilton, 2003, p.136, 220; cf. Hammond, B., British Artefacts vol.2 - Middle Saxon & Viking, Witham, 2010, item 1.14-j, for type.

Footnotes

This piece would have been used in the board game Hnefatafl. Trade weights and gaming pieces in Anglo-Scandinavian culture were often formed by taking a small and finely-made pre-existing item and embedding it into a lead matrix. The effect of this practice has been to preserve smaller pieces which would otherwise not have survived.

CONDITION

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LOT 2081