Archaeologists have discovered a richly adorned ‘knight’ chess piece at a medieval web site in Tønsberg, the oldest metropolis in Norway.
The 800-year-old Arabic-inspired chess piece is richly adorned with circles. Image credit score: Lars Haugesten, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.
The historic chess piece was present in a Thirteenth-century constructing at Anders Madsens gate in Tønsberg.
The artifact is cylindrical, about 3 cm tall, 2.6 cm in diameter, and has a protruding snout on prime with two dotted circles.
It is fabricated from antler; lead was most likely inserted in the course of the piece, making it stand firmly on the chessboard.
The piece is richly adorned with circles on the underside, a number of dotted circles on the perimeters and on the prime.
“The design of the piece has an abstract shape, and is designed according to Islamic tradition, where no human figures are to be depicted,” mentioned Dr. Lars Haugesten, an archaeologist on the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.
“No previous archaeological finds from Tønsberg have such details, which emphasizes that this chess piece is a unique object.”
“The game of chess was taken up in the Arab world after the conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE, and was introduced to Spain in the 10th century CE by the Moors.”
“From Spain, the game spread rapidly northwards, and may have been known in Scandinavia shortly afterwards.”
“The oldest find in the Nordic region is from Lund, Sweden, dating back to the last half of the 12th century. That piece is similar to the find from Tønsberg.”
The protruding snout of the 800-year-old chess piece has two dotted circles. Image credit score: Lars Haugesten, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.
According to the staff, the chess piece from Tønsberg is a horse (as we speak referred to as a knight).
“In Norway, some chess pieces from the Middle Ages have been found, but few similar knights,” Dr. Haugesten mentioned.
“For example, in Bergen, more than 1,000 gaming pieces have been found.”
“Of these, there are some chess pieces but only 6 abstract knights.”
“Their shape is similar to the piece from Tønsberg, but the size of the pieces varies.”
“The decor on the pieces is not the same as that from Tønsberg, yet the pieces from Bergen both have dotted circles and ordinary circles.”