The “Druid of Colchester” is the name of an archaeological site discovered in Stanway, near

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. It is the grave of a person buried with surgical tools and a small board-game. The person whose cremated remains were buried in the grave could have been either a man or a woman, and is also called the '' Druid of Colchester'' (or the ''surgeon of Colchester'').

Discovery

The grave was discovered by archaeologists in 1996, at the village of Stanway, Essex, The find is believed to be that of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

druid dated . It is one among a number of graves of eminent people found, believed to be buried around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 CE. The area was then associated with the

Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their ...

tribe.

Artifacts

In the wooden chambered burial site, archaeologists uncovered cremated human remains, and a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

— the first time that such a game has been found virtually intact. Other items uncovered included a cloak decorated with brooches, a jet bead believed to have magical properties, medical equipment, a tea strainer still containing some kind of herbal brew, and some mysterious metal poles conjectured to be used for divining. The surgical kit consisted of 13 instruments including: A cup was also found, containing traces of the herb

mugwort Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus '' Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species ''Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species ''Artemisia argyi'' is ...

. The tea strainer also contained herbs commonly associated with herbal remedies in ancient times. Philip Crummy, director of the trust, remained cautious, adding that there may be other explanations. "In the report we draw the possibility that this man or woman was a druid," he wrote: :"The so-called ‘druid’ could have been a doctor. The tea strainer contains artemisia pollen, which is commonly associated with herbal remedies. Healing is an attribute given to druids. We don't know what the metal rods are for, but we think they could have been used for divining. The question is whether all that stacks up to him

r her R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irela ...

being a druid. It could be – it was certainly somebody special." The medical kit was "fairly Romanized" and the individual may have acted "like a Roman surgeon / doctor would have done." "Divination was widely practiced in the Roman world too," he added. Because of the site’s age and location, archaeologist Mike Pitts believed the person was indeed a Celtic druid, and could have been closely related to

Cunobelinus Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_[Cymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c' ...

, a chief or king of the Catuvellauni tribe.

The Stanway game

The grave contained a

, with its blue and white glass board-pieces laid out ready for start of play. Surviving metal corners and hinges from the game board allowed a reconstruction to be created; it is believed to be a 55×40 centimeter (21×15 inch) rectangle with play over a board of 8×12 squares. The white and blue glass tokens – 13 for each side – were ranged opposite each other, similar to the starting position in chess. All pieces were of equal size, except for a single, smaller white bead positioned close to the centre of the board. Given the absence of dice, Irving Finkel, Finkel (2009) speculated that the game was purely strategic. A detailed analysis of the game by Schädler (2007) argues that the game is neither Roman latrunculi, nor XII scripta, but in fact a relative of the Celtic game known as

fidchell (in Irish; also spelled , , or , and pronounced in Old Irish) or (in Welsh, pronounced ) was a board game popular among the ancient Celts. The name in both Irish and Welsh is a compound translating to "wood sense"; the fact that the compo ...

or gwyddbwyll. The find suggests the game was played on either 8×12 or 9×13 squares using 13 pieces per side. The presence of just one smaller bead may indicate that the game was asymmetrical, with a king-like piece belonging to one side, as in

tafl games Tafl games (pronounced avl also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the Rom ...

. Alternatively, some people believe this board may have been used along with the metal rods for divining purposes. In 2015, Colchester resident Alex Jones developed a board game he calls ''Aquila'' inspired by the Stanway game. At least one ''Aquila'' tournament was held at the Colchester Roman Circus Centre in September 2015.

Footnotes

References

{{reflist, 25em, refs= {{cite web , title=Courier game , website=Chess Variants , url=http://www.chessvariants.org/historic.dir/courier.html {{cite web , first=Zoe , last=Forsey , date=2015-09-01 , title=Alex brings game back from the dead , newspaper=Daily Gazette & Essex County Standard , url=http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/13636695.Alex_brings_game_back_from_the_dead/ {{cite AV media , series=Games Britannia , number=1 , title=Dicing with Destiny , publisher= BBC Four , date= 8 December 2009 {{cite news , newspaper=

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

, date=22 November 1997 , department=Style & design , title=Items and icons treasures {{cite web , first=Andrew , last=Johnson , date=2011-10-23 , title=Iron Age mystery of the Essex druid , newspaper=

, url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/iron-age-mystery-of-the-essex-druid-812194.html {{cite book , first=Ulrich , last=Schädler , year=2007 , chapter=The doctor’s game – new light on the history of ancient board games , editor1-last=Crummy , editor1-first=Philip , editor2-last=Benfield , editor2-first=S. , editor3-last=Crummy , editor3-first=N. , editor4-last=Rigby , editor4-first=V. , editor5-last=Shimmin , editor5-first=D. , title=Stanway: An Elite Burial Site at Camulodunum , series=Britannia Monograph Series , volume=24 , publisher=Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies , location=London, UK , pages=359–375 , chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2135694 , via=academia.edu , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012085805/http://goddesschess.com/chessays/stanschadler.pdf , archive-date=2011-10-12 {{cite news , newspaper=

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, date=6 September 1996 , title=Roman board game found at burial site Druids History of Colchester