Mark Hall, curator of the Perth Museum, has recently drawn attention to the proliferation of board games in Viking burials.
One site on the island of Rousay in the Orkneys, dating back to the 9th century, contains 25 board game pieces, while a similar site at Sanday, 25 miles to the north-east, has 22 playing pieces.
Mr. Hall said (as quoted in the Times of 28 July): ‘Strategy and the skill of board games were closely linked to the warrior status of the dead. Placing the gaming kit in the grave served to remember or commemorate that status and skill and to make it available for the deceased in the afterlife.
‘Just as in life, where success on the gaming board – which needed strategic thinking as well as fighting ability – could be seen to confirm and add to the status of an accomplished warrior, in death the inclusion of a board game signalled ability and success as a warrior and by implication preparedness for the challenge ahead.
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