:Gloucester tabula set
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox artifact
| name = Gloucester tabula set
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| image = Full board view, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg
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| alt = Photograph in plan view of the gaming set showing triangular points and assorted gaming pieces
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| material = Bone
| size = Approx. 450 × 600mm (board), pieces 45mmDarvill 1988, p. 31
| symbols =
| created = 11th century, or 1100-20.
| discovered =
| discovered_place = Gloucester
| discovered_coords = {{Coord|51.8643|-2.2502}}
| discovered_date = 1983
| discovered_by =
| location = Museum of Gloucester
| classification =
| culture = Romanesque
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The Gloucester tabula set is the earliest surviving board and complete set of counters for the game tabula, a tables game and possible predecessor of backgammon.Stewart 1993, p. 90 Dating from the 11th or early 12th century, it is an example of Romanesque art. Discovered on the site of Gloucester Castle in 1983, in the English city of Gloucester, it is now on display in the Museum of Gloucester.
Description
The set was excavated at 28–32 Commercial Road, 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.Stewart 1993, A1-4 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 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 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 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 {{cvt|600 by 450|mm}} in size.Darvill 1988, p. 31
= Pieces =
The set comprises a full set of 30 gaming pieces. The pieces average {{convert|44.5|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} in diameter and are {{convert|7.5|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} thick. It is possible that a lathe 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 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.
{{Gallery
|title=Red deer skull pieces
|file:1. Seated figure with bear, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated figure with bear
|file:2. Figure carrying another, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure carrying another
|file:3. Hanging man, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Hanging man
|file:4. Squatting figure, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Squatting figure
|file:5. Figure with fish and bird, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure with fish and bird
|file:6. Seated figure (possible), Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated figure (possible)
|file:7. Elephant, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Elephant
|file:8. Aesop's fable, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Aesop's fable
|file:9. Seated figure eating, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated figure eating
|file:10. Two confronting birds, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Two confronting birds
|file:11. Hooded archer, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Hooded archer
|file:12. Manticora, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Manticore
|file:13. Figure with spear and shield, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure with spear and shield
|file:14. Figure seated by fire (possible), Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure seated by fire (possible)
|file:15. Seated figure drinking, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated figure drinking
}}
{{Gallery
|title=Red deer antler pieces
|file:16. Tress puller, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Tress puller
|file:17. Man with animal on his back (possible), Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Man with animal on his back (possible)
|file:18. Seated fiddler, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated fiddler
|file:19. Samson and the lion, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Samson and the lion
|file:20. Figure threshing (possible), Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure threshing (possible)
|file:21. Figure in Orans position, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Figure in Orans posture
|file:22. Centaur with bow, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019 (interim).jpg|Centaur with bow
|file:23. Rider, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Rider
|file:24. Copulating couple, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Copulating couple
|file:25. Harpist, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Harpist
|file:26. Toad, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Toad
|file:27. Juggler with hoops, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Juggler with hoops
|file:28. Dancer, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Dancer
|file:29. Snake, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Snake
|file:30. Seated figure with hawk, Gloucester Tabula Set, June 2019.jpg|Seated figure with hawk
}}
Notes
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite journal |last1=Darvill |first1=Timothy |last2=Greatorex |first2=P. A. |last3=Isaac |first3=P. |last4=Morris |first4=Carole A. |last5=Stewart |first5=I. J. |last6=Straker |first6=Vanessa |last7=Vince |first7=A. G. |title=Excavations on the Site of the Early Norman Castle at Gloucester, 1983–84 |journal=Medieval Archaeology |date=1988 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–49 |doi=10.1080/00766097.1988.11735500 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3188844&recordType=Journal}}
- {{Cite book| isbn = 0-9512429-0-3| pages = 37–39| last1 = Norman| first1 = Mark| last2 = Black| first2 = James| title = Recent advances in the conservation and analysis of artifacts| chapter = The conservation of the Gloucester tabula set| location = London| date = 1987}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=Ian |last2=Watkins |first2=Malcolm |title=An 11th-century bone tabula set from Gloucester [preliminary account] |journal=Medieval Archaeology |date=1984 |volume=28 |pages=185–90 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/med_arch/contents.cfm?vol=28&CFID=13088&CFTOKEN=90FBDB3B-1FF7-4D06-999DA6D46CDEBD6E}}
- {{Cite thesis| type=PhD |publisher = Bristol| last = Stewart| first = I. J.| title = The Gloucester Tabulae set: its discovery and interpretation |date = 1993| url = https://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/en/theses/the-gloucester-tabulae-set--its-discovery-and-interpretation(bbee0205-8012-47c2-a2fe-5b4c942a130c).html}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Gloucester Tabula Set}}
Category:Archaeology of Gloucestershire
Category:Historical tables games