A RARE discovery of a 12th- century gaming piece in Iceland is set to fuel fresh controversy over the mystery of the famous Lewis Chessmen.
The majority of the 93 figures were acquired by the British Museum while 11 pieces are held by the National Museum of Scotland. Experts at both museums agree that they likely hail from Trondheim in Norway.
However, this theory is challenged by the recent find of a historic chess figure, made of fish bone and wearing a helmet, shield, and sword, at Siglufjordur on Iceland’s north coast last month.
Archaeologists say it was probably cut in a known historic Viking craft workshop at Skálholt near Reykjavík and it is estimated to be about the same age as the Lewis pieces.
Icelandic scholar Gudmundur G Thórarinsson claims the 800- year-old Lewis Chessmen could have been carved by the same craftsmen.
Mr Thórarinsson said: “The finding certainly brings the limelight closer to Iceland. The archaeologists working at the excavation say that the chess piece is Icelandic and that it is from 12th or 13th century, which puts it in the same time space. This shows that people in Iceland played chess at this time with pieces figured like the berserker (a Lewis chessman piece). It also shows that they were carving in a similar style as the Lewis chess pieces, which can hardly be a coincidence.”
The Lewis Chessmen were found among stone bothies in a small glen by the stunning sandy beach at Ardroil by crofter Calum Macleod of nearby Pennydonald and are considered to be one of the most significant archaeological discoveries ever made in Scotland.
The dispute over the chessmen will be examined by Scandinavian and British academics at conference in Reykjavík later this month, which will be attended by David Caldwell from the National Museum of Scotland and James Robinson of the British Museum.
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