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Description: | A lead alloy possible gaming piece probably dating from the Early Medieval period, about AD 700 - 1050. The object is a dome with four raised pellets on the top, arranged with one in the centre and three around it. The flat base has a deep cavity in the middle. The cavity has a diameter of 10.4mm, but the walls taper inwards to 8.3mm at the bottom of the hole, and is 7.1mm deep. The gaming piece is 14.5mm tall, 18.8mm diameter and 17.75g.Objects like this are often described as gaming pieces but there are few excavated examples with which to compare them. They can also be interpreted as weights. Similar sized and shaped objects but made from chalk were recovered from Anglo-Scandinavian building contexts in York and have been identified as Hnefatafl pieces (Mainman and Rodgers, 2000). Hnefatafl was a game rather like chess. However, there are none made of lead. Possible gaming pieces that are made of lead are illustrated in 'Lead Weights' by Biggs and Withers (2000), but it is pointed out that similar objects have been found associated with Viking weights, especially examples with a square base and four peaks. The possibility that the object functioned as a weight cannot be ruled out. Compare SWYOR-69EB78 (with five pellets on the top) NCL-CFFFC7 (three pellets), WMID-669380 (solid, decorated base), and LIN-7D8F62 (solid).The predominant Viking Age systems of measurement for bullion is described in record NLM-F17E5A (2015 T8) as based on units of 4.07gms (in Scandinavia) or 4.34gms (Viking Dublin, and by extension the contemporary 'kingdom' of York). If interpreted as a weight, this object could represent nearly 5 of the Scandinavian unit, or 4 of the Dublin unit (See also Haldenby and Kershaw, 2014, Viking-Age Lead Weights from Cottam in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol. 86, page 106-23).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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WEIGHT
LeadPossible Weight. Cast roughly cuboid…
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