By early 9th century, the Orkney Islands, an archipelago in the
Northern Isles of Scotland, pretty much became the headquarters for
pirate raids and expeditions mounted by the Vikings against both Norway
and mainland Scotland. In fact, the area later became embroiled in the
dynastic politics of the Norsemen, and as such was under Norse (and
later Norwegian) rule till 1472 AD. Suffice it to say, the archipelago
is home to a flurry of Viking archaeological sites and specimens. And
now a Scottish academic, Mark Hall of Perth Museum, has unveiled how at
least two of these burial sites in Orkney contain board games that
accompanied the body of the occupant. According to the researcher, these
board games were arrayed alongside the warrior to symbolically provide
him with ‘entertainment’ even in his afterlife.
Interestingly, these Orkney burials are just two among the 36 board
game burials of Vikings that are spread across Northern Europe. In any
case, focusing on the Orkney ones, one of the burials from the 9th
century Rousay site consisted of one male who was accompanied by 25 game
pieces made of bones. The other burial at the Sanday site was a tad
elaborate, with its occupants comprising one adult male, a young boy and
an elderly woman – all of whom were accompanied by 22 game pieces made
of whalebone. Hall made it clear –
