Druid Grave Unearthed in the UK?

[Dover]

The description of the board game discovered in the grave (for divination?) fascinated me, so I've listed some sites about ancient board games as well. Anybody know anything about board games relative to the Druids or their use as divination tools?


Druid Grave Unearthed in U.K.?.............


Digging for History Feb. 11, 2008 -- Historical records tell of a mystical, priestly and learned class of elite individuals called Druids among Celtic societies in Britain, but there has been no archaeological evidence of their existence. Until, perhaps, now.

A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.

Mike Pitts is the journal's editor and an archaeologist. He studied classical Greek and Roman texts that mention the Druids in early France and Britain. The most detailed description, Pitts found, dates to 55 B.C. and comes from Roman military and political leader Julius Caesar.

"Druids, he says, were prestigious ritual specialists who performed human sacrifices, acted as judges in disputes, were excused action in battle and taught the transmigration of souls -- when you die, your soul is passed on to another living being," Pitts told Discovery News.

Other historians link the Druids to soothsaying and healing practices.

Within the wooden, chambered burial site, researchers have excavated a wine warmer, cremated human remains, a cloak pinned with brooches, a jet bead, divining rods (for fortune-telling), a series of surgical instruments, a strainer bowl last used to brew Artemisia-containing tea, a board game carefully laid out with pieces in play, as well as other objects...cont'd

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/11/druid-grave.html





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Board-Games And Divination In Global Cultural History.............

http://www.shikanda.net/ancient_models/gen3/mankala/mankala1.htm

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Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations. A number of important historical sites, artifacts and documents exist which shed light on early board games. Some of these include:

**Senet has been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, c. 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively.<1> Senet is the oldest board game known to have existed, having been pictured in a fresco found in Merknera's tomb (3300-2700 BC).<2>
** Mehen is another ancient board game from Predynastic Egypt.
** Go is an ancient strategic board game originating in China
** Patolli is a board game originating in mesoamerica and played by the ancient mayans.
** The Royal Tombs of Ur contained, among others, the Royal Game of Ur. They were excavated by Leonard Woolley, but his books document little on the games found. Most of the games he excavated are now housed in the British Museum in London.
** Buddha games list is the earliest known list of games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_game

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http://www.nabataea.net/games3.html

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[Gloria]

1. Fascinating stuff! I had archaeology minor in college, so this sort of

thing is really interesting to me! Thanks for posting!

[Dover]

4. Thanks for your enthusiasm!...n/t

[Bonobo]

2. When I read this, I recalled Tolstoy's "The Coming of the King".

In it, Merlin plays a chess-like game with some God, if I recall.

After a quick search, I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidchell

Fidchell, or Celtic chess, is a game played in ancient Ireland at least 2,000 and perhaps 2,500 years ago. It is very similar to the Welsh game of gwyddbwyll. Both names translate as “wooden wisdom” or something similar.

Fidchell is mentioned quite often in ancient Celtic legends and lore, but the exact form of the game is open to speculation, due to the lack of detail on the rules, playing pieces, and even the board, to some extent. This much is clear, it was played on a board, with opposing sets of pieces, and unlike modern chess, involved a king in the center, with his defensive pieces protecting him from attacks by his opponent.

The legends describe fidchell as a game played by royalty, and even the gods, as it was supposed to have been invented by Lugh, the Irish god of light,<1> and was played very skillfully by his son, the hero Cuchullainn. A series of fidchell games also forms an important episode in Tochmarc Étaíne.

[Dover]

3. Wow...fascinating! Thanks for the info!

I wonder if the grave board game is the same or similar?

[Bonobo]

5. Read the descriptions side by side:

Here is the description of the board found:
"The board game and its arranged pieces, however, are anything but common. None other like it has ever been found at Roman-era sites in Great Britain.

Surviving metal corners and hinges from the board allowed Pitts to reconstruct it as an 8-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Raised sides suggest dice might have been used. The white and blue glass counters were positioned with care. Some were straight across the sides, another in a diagonal line and one white marker close to the board's center. "

Here is a description of Fidchell from Wikipedia:
"Fidchell, or Celtic chess, is a game played in ancient Ireland at least 2,000 and perhaps 2,500 years ago. It is very similar to the Welsh game of gwyddbwyll. Both names translate as “wooden wisdom” or something similar.Fidchell is mentioned quite often in ancient Celtic legends and lore, but the exact form of the game is open to speculation, due to the lack of detail on the rules, playing pieces, and even the board, to some extent. This much is clear, it was played on a board, with opposing sets of pieces, and unlike modern chess, involved a king in the center, with his defensive pieces protecting him from attacks by his opponent.This theory is supported by an artifact found in Balinderry, Ireland, consisting of a wooden board with a seven by seven grid, marked off by holes similar to those found in a cribbage board, which has Celtic symbols on it. This artifact is almost certainly a tafl variant, and perhaps even a Brandub board, and most commentators assume that it is the type of board upon which one would have played fidchell. Reconstructions of probable rules proceed from there.

[Dover]

6. Thanks for making that comparison a little easier.

Some similarities, apparently, but not quite the same.

[Dover]

7. Fidchell and further thoughts.

Ya know, it seems from the info you posted that the only knowledge of the game of Fidchell has come from literary and oral history sources. Maybe...just maybe...this board game found in the grave is the first one actually found. It sure sounds like it could be. The descriptions are very similar.

And isn't it interesting that the game that was found and thought to be similar to Fidchell (the artifact from Bralinderry), a precursor or same game with pegs substituted for the blue/white glass pieces, has a human head as a handle indicating that perhaps the board was in fact representative of the body and what they are calling the "king" might have more esoteric significance re: soul or person's heart or center.
That makes more sense to me if it is a divination tool and something used by a priest-physician.
Also, if the board is symbolic of the body then it might also make more sense that the original shape was rectangular rather than a square...although the square also had symbolic significance in the esoteric symbolism.

Another link - http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/593813

[Dover]

8. Goddess Iconography in Ancient Board Games

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Today when people play backgammon or Xiang qi they are probably not thinking about the esoteric and religious aspects of the games. But to ancient peoples, playing the earliest forms of these games included more than the thrill of pitting skill and luck against an opponent; it also incorporated a recognition of and familiarity with the underlying esoteric and religious components and ethos as expressed in the iconography of the games. This paper is an introductory discussion of three ancient symbols that are part and parcel of the earliest board games: the grid/square, the rosette and the serpent. It will explore both how this iconography was incorporated into those early games and how it expressed recognition of and reverence for the Goddess.


Ancients' World View as Expressed in Art.

Modern man generally views art as an expression of esthetic values disconnected from any collective social or spiritual meaning. But ancient peoples did not view art as we do today. To them, art was first and foremost an expression of religious belief and dogma through the use of a comprehensive system of symbols and icons.1

The ancients' use of decorative elements was representational, highly symbolic and embued with religious significance from the earliest times; this approach permeated artistic expression from the magnificent Egyptian tomb paintings 2 to the delicate inlay work of shell and mother of pearl on the gameboards excavated from the Royal Tombs of Ur .

One of the oldest carved stone vases discovered in Sumer, the Warka vase, circa 3500 BCE, demonstrates the practice of applying sacred expression to even the most mundane of objects. The vase is nearly four feet tall. On the upper tier is the figure of a nude man who may possibly represent the sacrificial king. He approaches the robed queen Inanna. Inanna wears a horned headdress. The Queen of Heaven stands in front of two looped "asherah" poles, phallic symbols sacred to the goddess. On the lower tier a group of nude priests bring baskets of gifts, including fruits, to pay homage to the goddess.3 In their earliest expressions in writing and art work, ancient peoples demonstrated a belief in the axiom "as above, so below".

In Egypt, this mindset is perhaps best embodied in what they call their writing - "medu netcher", "the words of the gods": The Egyptians believed that writing was given to them by Thoth, the keeper of records among the gods. But Thoth didn't just give humans writing, he gave them the language of the gods. To write hieroglyphs was to speak "god-language." In other words, the Egyptians believed that the gods "spoke" in pictures and in things. This is a powerfully important insight into the Egyptian world view. If the "words of the gods" are pictures and things, that means that the entire world is a speech by the gods, full of meaning and symbol; this means that the universe itself can be "read."

Since Thoth taught humans the "words of the gods," he taught them also how to read and understand the universe itself. Above everything else, understand that for the Egyptian everything in the world and universe was writing that resembled all the human writing they inscribed on their tombs and monuments. For this reason, while Egyptian writing is a form of art, all Egyptian art is a form of writing-it has meaning, symbolism, and precision.4The game of Mehen is an excellent example of the ancient Egyptians' cultural expression and manifestation of this mind-set. Timothy Kendall noted

"It is not possible to know (with the evidence we have) if this deity was inspired by the game itself, or whether the game was inspired by an already existing mythology. . . . Mehen's role was essential, for if Re were not protected from these enemies, he might not rise in the morning, which would result in the cessation of all life. In Egyptian belief, 'life' applied not only to the living but also to the dead, who were believed to travel with the sun and to rise, reborn, with him at dawn." 5 ...cont'd

http://www.goddesschess.com/chessays/janigk.html