´óÏó´«Ã½

Lewis Chessmen

Contributed by National Museums Scotland

Found on Lewis in 1831, they are probably the most well-known archaeological find from Scotland. The chess pieces consist of elaborately worked walrus ivory and whales' teeth in the form of seated kings and queens, bishops, knights on their mounts, standing warders and pawns in the shape of obelisks. 11 of the chessmen are at the National Museums Scotland and the remaining 82 reside at the British Museum. They were probably made in Norway late 12th and early 13th centuries and where the chessmen were buried, was part of the Kingdom of Norway, not Scotland. It seems likely they were buried for safe keeping on route to be traded. Although many questions remain unanswered, there continues to be fascination with this remarkable group of iconic objects, 180 years after their discovery on Lewis.

Comments are closed for this object

Share this link:

Most of the content on A History of the World is created by the contributors, who are the museums and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ or the British Museum. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site’s House Rules please Flag This Object.

About this object

Click a button to explore other objects in the timeline

Location

Norway

Culture
Period
Theme
Size
Colour
Material

View more objects from people in Edinburgh and East of Scotland.

Find out more

Podcast

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.