Are Many Vendel and Viking Period Gaming Pieces Made of Whale Bone?
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Korta meddelanden 48-54:Layout 1 15-02-16 14.14 Sida 51 Korta meddelanden 51 Are many Vendel and Viking Period gaming pieces made of whale bone? Gaming pieces are often found in Late Iron Age Period. When we get into the Viking Period after burials. Most are interpreted as being made of AD 790, gaming pieces grow increasingly spheri- antler or bone from large terrestrial animals, with- cal, although still with a flat base. out any further analysis of the material. When The shape and size of the gaming pieces relate studying gaming pieces and their raw material in to the choice of raw material, and there are clear detail, we have sometimes noticed that none of limitations to how large and thick an object can theabove-mentionedmaterialsactuallycorrespond be cut from the bones and antlers of terrestrial to the bone structure seen in the artefacts. After mammals in Northern Europe. Thus many large reading recent studies of gaming pieces from the Vendel and Viking Period gaming pieces have Salme ship burials on Saaremaa (Konsa et al. been puzzling, since the structure of the raw ma- 2009, p. 58; Peets et al. 2012, p. 5), we decided to terial fits neither with antler nor bone. study the raw material of some 40 gaming pieces found in 2013 in a barrow at Gnista in Danmark The Gnista barrow parish near Uppsala. Our study sheds light on a In 2013 a barrow was excavated at Gnista (Raä little-known large-scale production of whale bone Danmark 62:1) just outside Uppsala. It was a col- products during the Vendel Period. It casts a new laborative project between Upplandsmuseet and light on Viking Period whale bone handicraft SocietasArchaeologicaUpsaliensis,fundedbyICA and, importantly, long-distance trade networks fastigheter (Hennius et al., forthcoming). in Scandinavia during this period. The barrow, about 18 m in diameter and 3 m high, had been built in several stages and erected Background over the cremated remains of a man who died in Gaming pieces first appear in Scandinavia during the Early Vendel Period (late 6th century). He the Roman Iron Age. From the start these objects was accompanied on the pyre by many animals, are strongly linked to high-status weapon buri- including two horses, five dogs, five pigs and sev- als. Gaming pieces can be made of a wide variety eral birds of prey: goshawk, peregrine falcon and of exclusive and eye-catching materials, such as eagle owl. glass, amber, ivory and horse teeth. But most com- The find assembly is also rich, including items monly, gaming pieces are seen to be made of of gold, gilded bronze, silver foil and garnets. Al- unspecified bone or antler. Most Roman Period though they are severely burnt, we have identi- and Migration Period pieces are made of a com- fied parts of a sword and a shield, horse harness pact material, without spongious matter, which and probably a helmet as well – items familiar probably means that either elk antler or thick from rich coeval inhumations e.g. at nearby Vals- bones such as metatarsals of horse or cattle were gärde. used. Significantly, the early gaming pieces are The excavation also brought to light at least either small with a domed profile, or rather flat 42 gaming pieces. They are all relatively large, and low when their diameter is larger. The width with two holes in the bottom, comparable to and height proportions change at the transition finds from well-known graves like the Östhögen to the Vendel Period in the decades around AD barrow at Old Uppsala and the Ottarshögen bar- 550. The gaming pieces are now made larger and row in Vendel (Lindqvist 1936, pp. 166, 175). taller than before. This is especially prominent in Most gaming pieces are lathe-turned, and the finds from the Lake Mälaren area, while the de- hole or holes regularly found under their bases sign change is less clear for example on Gotland. bear witness to this process. These holes vary The general shape of these gaming pieces seems over time: two holes are never seen after the Early to remain the same during most of the Vendel Vendel Period. Fornvännen 110 (2015) Korta meddelanden 48-54:Layout 1 15-02-16 14.14 Sida 52 52 Korta meddelanden Fig. 1. A gaming piece from Gnista. Photo Bengt Fig. 2. Whale bone in a reference collection. Photo Backlund, Upplandsmuseet. Rudolf Gustavsson, SAU. During cleaning, the conservator recognised and also gave older dates than other samples traces of red pigment which he interpreted as from the grave, reflecting a marine reservoir possible remains of paint (Jahrehorn 2014). All effect (Peets et al. 2010, p. 29). This inspired us to of the gaming pieces are made of the same raw take a closer look at Swedish gaming pieces, material, but initial osteological analysis could beginning with those from Gnista (fig. 1). not determine which. The gaming piece are made from spongious material even though they measure around 40 x Osteology 30 mm in diameter and height. No entirely com- A breakthrough in the interpretation of the gam- pact bone material is visible. The spongious struc- ing pieces came from the excavation and analysis ture is coarse with elongated cavities and does of two Late Vendel Period (early 8th century) not correspond to any type of local animal bone. ship burials and mass graves at Salme on the In antler, the spongy structure can vary de- island of Saaremaa in Estonia (Konsa et al. 2009; cidedly between different deer species and also Peets et al. 2010; 2012). On the basis of many within a single antler. Not so with the gaming parallels, the buried warriors can be interpreted pieces from Gnista. They lack the oval, bubbly, as Scandinavians, probably from the Svealand spongy structure of antler, as well as any trace of region in Sweden. The Salme team realised some- an entirely compact area. Furthermore the Gnista thing that no-one has seen in Sweden, despite the pieces have a coarser homogeneous spongiosa thousands of gaming pieces kept in our museums. where almost all cavities are orientated in the They found that the vast majority of the Salme same direction. In antler and common types of gaming pieces are made of whale bone (Konsa et bone the cavities are much thinner and go in var- al. 2009, p. 58; Peets et al. 2012, p. 5). This in- ious directions. cludes at least 250 whale bone pieces from Salme Having excluding bone and antler from ter- ship II, compared to only seven made of antler. restrial mammals, we compared some gaming Salme I yielded 72 pieces, made of either whale or pieces to whale bones in the collections of the bovine bone (unspecified distribution). Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stock- An aspect that strengthens the whale bone holm, as well as the Paleontological Museum of interpretation comes from 14C analyses of the Uppsala University. These reference bones are 13 gaming pieces. They revealed a low δ C con- beach finds with eroded surfaces, but cracks and tent, which suggests a marine origin for the bone, damaged spots reveal the inner structure of some Fornvännen 110 (2015) Korta meddelanden 48-54:Layout 1 15-02-16 14.14 Sida 53 Korta meddelanden 53 findswhichoriginatefromminkewhale,greywhale ly unexplored form of large-scale raw (Sw. vikval, gråval) and an undetermined whale material production, probably some- species. where along the Atlantic coast of Scandi- The whale bones and the gaming pieces share navia. the aforementioned coarse, elongated and “fib- • They also support written descriptions of rous” spongious structure of the bones, with whaling during and even before the oblong, elongated cavities (fig. 2). In living Viking Period (Storli 2007 w. refs). whales these hollow spaces are filled with fats and • Whale bone or finished gaming pieces oils. The structure and density of the spongy may have been quite a common com- bone varies comparably little between, as well as modity moved by the Scandinavian trade within, different bones, and the bones have no networks of the Late Iron Age. This went entirely compact outer layer. In short, the corre- hand in hand with increased production spondence with the structure of the gaming and trade in other wilderness products pieces is almost perfect. during the Vendel and Viking Periods, After a preliminary survey of other graves such as tar, iron, blubber, furs and pre- with gaming pieces, it quickly became evident served game meat (e.g. Hennius 2007; that the Gnista find is far from unique. We have Lindholm & Ljungkvist in press). so far identified more than a hundred whale bone gaming pieces from five examined Vendel and References Viking Period graves around Uppsala; at Vals- Duczko, W., 1996. Uppsalahögarna som symboler och gärde (7, 13) and Old Uppsala (Prästgården 1, arkeologiska källor. Duczko, W. (red.) Arkeologi och miljögeologi i Gamla Uppsala. Volym II Storby backe 512, 596). In fact, we have found . Occasional papers in archaeology 7. Uppsala. whale bone gaming pieces in all of the coeval Hennius, A., 2007. En mörk tid i uppländsk ekonomi. graves that we have examined so far. There is also Hjärthner-Holdar, E. et al. (red.). Land och samhälle at least one find from Svartsmara in Åland (Forn- i förändring, Uppländska bygder i ett långtidsperspektiv. lämning Fi 18.1, grave 41). Volym4, Arkeologi E4, Studier. Uppsala. In addition we have made a brief survey of Hennius, A., et al. Forthcoming. ExcavationreportGnista. Upplandsmuseet & SAU. Uppsala. pictures of gaming pieces in the Swedish History Jahrehorn, M., 2014. Konserveringsrapport över föremål Museum's online catalogue (mis.historiska.se).