Rare Medieval Chess Piece Unearthed In England

MessageToEagle.com – The smallest medieval Arabic chess piece has been unearthed during an excavation in the back yard of the Wallingford Museum located in southeast England.

At first it looked like a tiny carving of a cat, but a closer examination revealed it was a tiny chess piece made from the tip of an antler, and further pieces could be found when a second dig is carried out at the visitor attraction in July.

Once it was cleaned up it was identified as a gaming piece, highly decorated with ring and dot designs.

“It is one of only about 50 medieval chess pieces found in England and, at only 21.7mm high, it is unique in being the smallest medieval Arabic chess piece known in the country,” museum curator Judy Dewey told The Oxford Times.

“The chess piece was made from the tip of an antler in the 12th or 13th century and is highly decorated with traditional roundels – most other such pieces are at least double the size.

“This is a bishop so the other pieces in the set must have been really tiny – it may have been part of a travelling set.”

Mrs Dewey added that the design originated in the East from an elephant, with the points representing tusks.

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When chess spread to Europe the piece became known as a Bishop, as the tusks looked like the points of a bishop’s mitre.

The chess piece was found close to Wallingford Priory, which the museum building once belonged to, so it may have been lost by a wealthy gentleman staying there.

“Wallingford had an important Royal Castle close by and occasionally visitors were housed in the Priory – even the monks may have played chess,” Dewey added.

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