According to a press release from the County Museum of Bohuslän in Uddevalla, western Sweden, the museum’s maritime archaeologists are studying a well-preserved shipwreck whose construction date lies in the AD 1210s or 1220s.
Source: Aardvarchaeology
- How to make your own boardgame.
- An article comparing the Irish games Fidchell and Brandub with Old Norse games.
- A review of the program Det Brente Skipet from the Norwegian NRK. Continue reading
The Lewis Chessmen (or, more correctly: gaming pieces) are currently on tour for the Exhibition “The Lewis Chessmen Unmasked. Currently they are in The National Museum of Scotland. On their website you can find loads of interesting information concerning the pieces and current research.
Exhibition: The Lewis Chessmen Unmasked
On the website you can also discover the history and stories concerning the pieces and you can even learn to play Hnefatafl 
During the tour interesting events are taking place, on September the 5th you can for example carve your own chesspiece:
Medieval Soap Sculptures
Date: Sun 5 September
Venue: Hawthornden Court, National Museum of Scotland
Cost: Free
Time: Drop-inCarve your very own chess piece inspired by the Lewis Chessmen. Look closely at the Chessmen to create your own queen, bishop or humourous beserker. Or invent your own chessboard character to add to the board.
On september 11th (my birthday) a seminar is held – very very interesting, I wish I could go there. If anyone does attend, please take extensive notes for me! You may even write a guestblog.
Unmasking the Lewis Chessmen
Date: Sat 11 Sep
Venue: Bute Room, National Museum of Scotland
Cost: £20 / £15 book your place by telephone 0131 225 7534 or online by clicking here (select the September 2010 calendar to access seminar booking page).To accompany the important exhibition tour of the Lewis Chessmen, this interdisciplinary seminar will highlight recent research into the origins, history and making of these iconic figures from a range of perspectives. There will also be an opportunity to visit the exhibition during the day. This seminar will appeal to students, academics and those with a general interest in the period and subject areas.
10.45: Registration (tea and coffee on arrival)
11.00-11.45: The Lewis Chessmen – their place in the Kingdom of the Isles.
Dr David H Caldwell, Keeper of Scotland and Europe, National Museums Scotland11.45-12.30: The Lewis Chessmen: Art and Avatar
Dr Heather Pulliam, Lecturer, History of Art, University of Edinburgh12.30-13.30: Lunch (not provided)
13.30-14.15: Facial Analysis of the Chess Pieces – the use of forensic science techniques for archaeological investigation.
Dr Caroline Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer in Facial Anthropology, University of Dundee14.15-15.00: The Norwegian Empire, Fantasy or Fact?
Alex Woolf, School of History, University of St Andrew’s15.00-15.15 Tea/coffee
15.15-16.00: ‘To you he left … his brown ivory chessmen’, Ships, play and cultural value in the Lewis gaming hoard.
Mark A Hall, History Officer, Perth Museum & Art Gallery16.00-16.30: Questions/discussion.
Games Britannia @ BBC 4
Episode 1 – Dicing with Destiny
Three-part series presented by historian Benjamin Woolley about popular games in Britain from the Iron Age to the Information Age, in which he unravels how an apparently trivial pursuit is a rich and entertaining source of cultural and social history.
In part one, Woolley investigates how the instinct to play games is both as universal and elemental as language itself and takes us from 1st-century Britain to the Victorian era.
Ancient and medieval games weren’t just fun, they were fundamental, and often imbued with prophetic significance. By the late Middle Ages this spiritual element in games began to be lost as gaming became increasingly associated with gambling. Dice and card games abounded, but a moral backlash in Victorian times transformed games into moral educational tools.
This was also the era in which Britain established the world’s first commercial games industry, with such classics as the Staunton Chess Set, Ludo and Snakes and Ladders leading the way, all adaptations of original games from other countries.
In the case of Snakes and Ladders, what once represented a Hindu journey to enlightenment was transformed into a popular but banal family favourite, and Woolley sees this as the perfect analogy for how the sacred energy which once imbued games had become gradually drained away by commercialisation.
The upcoming colloquium of the Board Game Studies will be in Paris from april 14th to april 17th 2010.
BOARD GAME STUDIES COLLOQUIUM XIII
PARIS
Wednesday 14th to Saturday 17th April, 2010The 13th Board Game Studies Colloquium will be held in Paris, from Wednesday 14th to Saturday 17th April, 2010.
The Colloquium will be hosted at the FIAP Jean-Monnet Centre , a large convention and hostel centre situated in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.The Colloquium will offer a large scope of papers (typically eight to ten per day), dealing with the archaeology, mathematics, history of art, computer science, anthropology, cognitive psychology, history, linguistics, design, economy of board games and their accessories (dice, gameboards, counters, etc.). We will also visit a few public collections.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We invite submissions from scholars, researchers, students and collectors on these topics. We seek papers that offer real research. Talks should not be longer than 25 minutes. They can be in French or in English. Papers read in French will be translated orally (though not simultaneously).
Subjects must be sent before November 30th, 2009 to:
Organising Committee
c/o Thierry Depaulis
24 rue Francur – 75018 Paris (France)
email: thierry (dot) depaulis (at) free (dot) frAbstracts (500-600 words) must be sent before January 31st, 2010, because they all must be translated into the other language.
The Colloquium fee is not yet set but will be around EUR130/150 for the whole programme, including a few meals. Two-Day (and perhaps One-Day) pass will also be available.
Further details and hotel booking will be posted later.
