Last week the Chessmen were featured on the BBC as part of the British Museum’s History of the World in 100 Objects, a superbly imaginative series of short and engaging lectures from Neil Macgregor.  Of the Chessman he says: [Bobby] Fischer declared “chess is war on a board”, and at that moment in history it certainly seemed like it. But then it always has. If all games are to some degree a surrogate for violence and war, no game so closely compares to a set-piece [ » read more ]

Comann Eachdraidh Uig played host last week to a visit from two experts on the Lewis Chessman, who hit the headlines in November with their theories relocating the find-site to Mealista, rather than Ardroil. Dr David Caldwell, Keeper of Scotland and Europe at the National Museum of Scotland, and Dr Mark Hall, curator at Perth Museum, were on the island to make arrangements for the touring Chessmen’s visit in 2011. Their proposal that the findspot was a souterrain on the site of a supposed nunnery [ » read more ]

By long and solid tradition in Uig, the spot where the Uig Chessmen were found in 1831 is held to be the Bealach Ban, a hollow in the dunes in Ardroil. In November of last year, a paper by Dr David Caldwell et al in Mediæval Archaeology proposed that, on the evidence of the Ordnance Survey Place Names book compiled by contractors from local information in the 1850s, the findspot may have been a few miles away at Mealista. Anna Mackinnon, Ardroil, wrote an initial [ » read more ]

A new study of the Uig Chessmen published last week by Dr David Caldwell et al. in Mediæval Archaeology has been getting a lot of press coverage (for instance on the BBC and in the Stornoway Gazette), particularly for the suggestion that the hoard may not actually have been found in Ardroil. Uig is not at all convinced – in fact, generally reckons this new theory to be completely unfounded. The following by Anna Finlayson-Mackinnon, Ardroil, explains why.  A copy of the article may be [ » read more ]

An article published in Mediaeval Archaeology this week raises some questions about the origins of the Uig Chessmen.  From the BBC today: New research has cast doubt on traditional theories about the historic Lewis Chessmen. The 93 pieces – currently split between museums in Edinburgh and London – were discovered on Lewis in 1831. But the research suggests they may have been used in both chess and Hnefatafl – a similar game that was popular in medieval Scandinavia. It also casts doubt on the traditional [ » read more ]

Look who’s on the front of the German edition of Bernard Cornwell’s The Lords of the North. It’s always a bit of shock to see our friends out and about. It’s described as “a powerful story of betrayal, romance and struggle, set in an England of turmoil, upheaval and glory. Uhtred, a Northumbrian raised as a Viking, a man without lands, a warrior without a country, has become a splendid heroic figure.” Not sure what it’s got to do with the Chessmen.  If you know [ » read more ]

Also from the new Uig School page, a slideshow of a visit the P1-P3 class paid to the museum to spend some time with a couple of local Vikings.  (A Flash Player is needed to watch these slideshows – free download here, or the pictures are also in the Gallery.)

The definitive short guide to our Uig Chessmen, found in Ardroil in 1831, is The Lewis Chessmen, by James Robinson of the British Museum, which addresses aspects of their discovery, design and likely provenance, and also the history of chess.  Of our little family of courtly Vikings, the berserkers are the most intriguing.  From the book: There are twelve warders, or rooks, all of whom defend themselves with shields decorated in a similar fashion to the knights’.  They are represented as foot soldiers and each [ » read more ]

Dr Mary Macleod, the council archaeologist, will give an illustrated talk in Uig this week on Viking settlement in Scotland with particular reference to the Western Isles, and will also touch on the recently-discovered prehistoric graves on Traigh na Berie, which were excavated last week. Uig Hall, 7.30pm, Friday 30 January.  All welcome; tea served; free.

A very strange tale of the death of a Hebridean woman in Iceland,  and the subsequent supernatural problems that ensued when her hosts failed to fulfill her dying wishes. This comes from Folk-lore and Legends: Scandinavia, by various authors, published London 1890.  The tale originates in the Eyrbiggja Saga and was also given a treatment by Sir Walter Scott, and by Robert Louis Stevenson who called his version The Waif Woman (published posthumously). The Saga sets the story in the year of the coming of [ » read more ]

Susan and Keith Stringer came across evidence of a grave in the dunes above Traigh na Berie, which on excavation was found to contain a crouch burial (in the picture, in the trench at the foot of the stick). From Hebrides News: A human skeleton thought to be 4000 years old has been discovered on Lewis. Soil erosion caused by recent storms exposed a small stone kist at Uig on the west side of the island. The bones, believed to be an almost whole adult [ » read more ]

A new degree-level archaeology module exploring the impact of the Vikings on the North Atlantic region between 700 and 1300 AD begins Tuesday 27 January at Lews Castle College in Stornoway. The course runs for 10 weeks and there are no formal entry requirements. For further information see the college webpage. The course will be taught by Dr Mary Macleod, who is also giving a talk in Uig Community Centre on Scotland’s Vikings: Friday 30 January at 7.30, free.

A mysterious cave full of swords was once discovered on Mealisval, but the could not be found again.  Dave Roberts gave the story of the discovery of the cave in an article for Uig News and here gives a range of possible explanations. In the Iron Age (2000 years ago) people often deposited weapons made of bronze or iron into water. They also built and used underground passage ways – thought by some to have been routes to the ‘underworld’. In Orkney there are a [ » read more ]

Mirabilis.ca, a source of all sorts of historical news, if there can be such a thing, points to a theory reported on Discovery about the reason for Viking settlements in Britain.  We know of course that there was what is described by Ian Armit as a “blending of cultural tradition” in the Western Isles, where the native Gaelic and incoming Norse cultures co-existed.  The scant evidence, such as the Viking age female burial found near Valtos School in 1915 which showed both Norse and Celtic [ » read more ]

Hnefatafl, or the King’s Table, was played in Northern Europe in the Dark Ages, and popular in Viking lands from about 400AD.  Different versions were developed and sets and boards have been found from Ireland to the Ukraine.  We’re not aware of any proof that it was played in Uig, but it seems inevitable that when the Vikings started settling here from about 800AD, they would have brought the pastime with them.  With the hoard of Uig Chessmen found in the dunes by Traigh Uig, there were [ » read more ]