The Gloucester tabula set is the earliest surviving board and complete set of counters for the game

tabula Tabula may refer to: *Tabula (company), a semiconductor company *Tabula (game), a game thought to be the predecessor to backgammon * ''Tabula'' (magazine), a magazine published in Tbilisi, Georgia *Tabula ansata, a tablet with handles See also * ...

, a

tables game Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among ...

and possible predecessor of backgammon. Dating from the 11th or early 12th century, it is an example of

Romanesque art Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic Art, Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 1 ...

. Discovered on the site of

Gloucester Castle Gloucester Castle was a Norman-era royal castle situated in the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. It was demolished in 1787 and replaced by Gloucester Prison. Early Norman motte and bailey castle It was probably constructed ...

in 1983, in the English city of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, it is now on display in the

Museum of Gloucester The Museum of Gloucester in Brunswick Road is the main museum in the city of Gloucester, England. It was extensively renovated following a large National Heritage Lottery Fund grant, and reopened on Gloucester Day, 3 September 2011. In March 20 ...

Description

The set was excavated at 28–32

Commercial Road Commercial Road is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. It is long, running from Gardiner's Corner (previously the site of Gardiners department store, and now Aldgate East Underground station), through ...

, Gloucester, the site of a Norman castle.Darvill 1988, p. 1 One hundred and fifty pieces of carved bone were found at the bottom of a late-11th-century rubbish pit. These comprised a full set of 30 gaming pieces, and fragments of the board.Stewart 1984, p. 186 Some fragments are missing, and there is evidence of deliberate damage in four places. This suggests that the set was deliberately broken up elsewhere, and dumped in the pit. Archaeological evidence suggests that this happened c. 1070-1120, with study of the artistic characteristics of the board indicating a date of around 1100. The playing pieces are in the Romanesque style of the Normans, but the carved bone pieces which comprise the board exhibit elements of the Borre, Ringerike and Urnes artistic styles. These styles are strongly associated with Vikings, suggesting it may have been built by an Anglo-Scandinavian craftsperson; there is little trace of Anglo-Saxon influence.Stewart 1993, p. 88, A2-8 The set, like most

tables games Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among ...

including backgammon, contains a board of 24 'points', around which the playing pieces would have been moved. The points are divided into two groups of 12, each with different decoration; there is no evidence that the points were coloured. One section of the board was found apparently complete, and suggests that the patterns would have alternated. The points are

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

shaped. Roman boards had square points, with triangular points appearing only in the 13th century. The design is therefore transitional between these. The board included spaces between points, and rectangular plates laid lengthways down the centre of the board. The latter are covered in an

interlaced Interlaced video (also known as interlaced scan) is a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth. The interlaced signal contains two fields of a video frame captured consecutively. This ...

snake design. There is no evidence to indicate that the board was hinged.Stewart 1984, p. 188 Corrosion from iron pins indicates that the bone inlay was fastened to a wooden base, about in size.Darvill 1988, p. 31

Pieces

The set comprises a full set of 30 gaming pieces. The pieces average in diameter and are thick. It is possible that a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...

was used in the manufacture. A central dimple is present on 26 of the 30 pieces. No dice were found. The pieces' depictions have been identified as follows. Pieces 1–15 are made from

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

skull, 16–30 from red deer antler. There is no evidence that the pieces were stained to create two distinctly coloured sets. There are no unifying themes in the symbolism that would enable the counters to be grouped into sets.Darvill 1988, pp. 31–2 The attributions below are from Darvill (1988). Stewart (1993) proposes different interpretations of some of the images.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Gloucester Tabula Set Historical tables games History of Gloucester Romanesque art Archaeology of Gloucestershire