Playing Viking Chess with Whale Bones
5 days ago
- #Viking history
- #whaling
- #archaeology
- Viking chess (hnefatafl) was a popular board game in ancient Scandinavia, played from 400 BCE to the 18th century.
- Game pieces made of whale bone found in Vendel culture graves suggest early industrial whaling in Scandinavia.
- Genetic analysis shows most whale bone pieces were from North Atlantic right whales, indicating systematic hunting.
- Whale bone game pieces transitioned from elite graves to middle-class graves, hinting at mass-market availability and trade.
- Evidence points to northern Norway as the source of whale bone, with possible involvement of the Sami people.
- Archaeological finds like blubber rendering pits support the idea of early whaling in northern Norway.
- Early texts mention 9th-century Norwegian tradesman Óttarr, who boasted of large-scale whaling near Tromsø.
- Whaling may have been part of broader economic resurgence in Scandinavia after the Roman Empire's collapse.
- Early whalers likely used methods like poison-tipped spears or driving whales ashore rather than open-sea hunting.
- The trade of whale bone game pieces may mark the beginning of Viking maritime expansion and resource use.