4 ms·

Archaeologists find 500-year-old board game carved in ruins of Polish castle

107 points by isaacfrond 3y ago

ggm 3y ago
Many examples in cathedral cloisters. Also marks of sword sharpening across the years. Churches are schools, churches are good for stabling horses and troops.
cf100clunk 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_men's_morris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_men's_morris
crtasm 3y ago
Source: https://arkeonews.net/500-year-old-board-game-discovered-carved-into-a-stone-slab-in-a-polish-castle/ https://arkeonews.net/500-year-old-board-game-discovered-car... ...which came from the Polish source https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/planszowka-sprzed-pol-tysiaca-lat-odkrycie-na-zamku-w-cmielowie-230906090906 https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/planszowka-sprzed...
ogrrr 3y ago
It's a bit weird reading a description of the rules in the post. Always thought, this was as well known as chess or checkers.
- codetrotter 3y ago
  Never heard of this game before. Is it still a common game to play?
  - SamBam 3y ago
    In my english elementary school there were definitely nine men's morris boards, but I've never seen anyone play it outside of elementary school.
  - jovial_cavalier 3y ago
    It's not too uncommon. Nintendo included it in their collection of tabletop games for the switch.
  - skitter 3y ago
    It's well known in Germany under the name Mill, but I cannot recall the last time I've seen anyone actually play it.
  - jonah 3y ago
    My family (in the US) plays it a lot. My sister in particular "solved" it so far as if she goes first and doesn't mess up, will always win. My dad made boards to give as gifts one Christmas. Fun game.
noelwelsh 3y ago
It's always nice to find a modern example of an ancient practice. E.g. ~3000 years old board scratched in stone in Assyria https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35669056 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35669056
- a_e_k 3y ago
  This is one of my favorite things to see whenever I visit the British Museum. I just love the mental image of bored guards playing a game to pass the time on a slow afternoon at the city gates. Similarly, I enjoyed once seeing the preserved birch bark doodles of a schoolboy named Onfim from ~800 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim
  - thaumasiotes 3y ago
    Good link. I found this extract from the Wikipedia page especially charming: > Onfim left seventeen known birch bark items. Twelve of those have illustrations, five only text. One of the drawings features a knight on a horse, with Onfim's name written next to him, stabbing someone on the ground with a lance, with scholars speculating that Onfim pictured himself as the knight. On the one hand, the evidence for that speculation isn't really sufficient. What if he was just autographing his work? But on the other hand, the conclusion is so obvious.
    - keithalewis 3y ago
      That the human brain evolved to make up stories? Even sleep doesn't stop it from doing that.
      - thaumasiotes 3y ago
        Did you mean to respond to a different comment?
readyplayernull 3y ago
Ohh cool! I remember playing this as a minigame in Sierra's Robin Hood, starts at 1:53:23 https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q
- wlesieutre 3y ago
  https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q&t=1h53m23s https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q&t=1h53m23s
jader201 3y ago
The same game found also in the Negev Desert from 1200 years ago: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-soap-factory-in-israel https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-soap-factory-in... I actually first learned about Nine Men’s Morris when playing Clubhouse Games on the Switch. It’s actually quite fun for a simple game. https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/clubhouse-games-51-worldwide-classics-switch/ https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/clubhouse-games-51-w...

107 points by isaacfrond 3y ago

ggm 3y ago

Many examples in cathedral cloisters. Also marks of sword sharpening across the years. Churches are schools, churches are good for stabling horses and troops.

cf100clunk 3y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_men's_morris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_men's_morris

crtasm 3y ago

Source: https://arkeonews.net/500-year-old-board-game-discovered-carved-into-a-stone-slab-in-a-polish-castle/ https://arkeonews.net/500-year-old-board-game-discovered-car... ...which came from the Polish source https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/planszowka-sprzed-pol-tysiaca-lat-odkrycie-na-zamku-w-cmielowie-230906090906 https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/planszowka-sprzed...

ogrrr 3y ago

It's a bit weird reading a description of the rules in the post. Always thought, this was as well known as chess or checkers.

codetrotter 3y ago
Never heard of this game before. Is it still a common game to play?
- SamBam 3y ago
  In my english elementary school there were definitely nine men's morris boards, but I've never seen anyone play it outside of elementary school.
- jovial_cavalier 3y ago
  It's not too uncommon. Nintendo included it in their collection of tabletop games for the switch.
- skitter 3y ago
  It's well known in Germany under the name Mill, but I cannot recall the last time I've seen anyone actually play it.
- jonah 3y ago
  My family (in the US) plays it a lot. My sister in particular "solved" it so far as if she goes first and doesn't mess up, will always win. My dad made boards to give as gifts one Christmas. Fun game.

noelwelsh 3y ago

It's always nice to find a modern example of an ancient practice. E.g. ~3000 years old board scratched in stone in Assyria https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35669056 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35669056

a_e_k 3y ago
This is one of my favorite things to see whenever I visit the British Museum. I just love the mental image of bored guards playing a game to pass the time on a slow afternoon at the city gates. Similarly, I enjoyed once seeing the preserved birch bark doodles of a schoolboy named Onfim from ~800 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onfim
- thaumasiotes 3y ago
  Good link. I found this extract from the Wikipedia page especially charming: > Onfim left seventeen known birch bark items. Twelve of those have illustrations, five only text. One of the drawings features a knight on a horse, with Onfim's name written next to him, stabbing someone on the ground with a lance, with scholars speculating that Onfim pictured himself as the knight. On the one hand, the evidence for that speculation isn't really sufficient. What if he was just autographing his work? But on the other hand, the conclusion is so obvious.
  - keithalewis 3y ago
    That the human brain evolved to make up stories? Even sleep doesn't stop it from doing that.
    - thaumasiotes 3y ago
      Did you mean to respond to a different comment?

readyplayernull 3y ago

Ohh cool! I remember playing this as a minigame in Sierra's Robin Hood, starts at 1:53:23 https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q

wlesieutre 3y ago
https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q&t=1h53m23s https://youtube.com/watch?v=j5C_aL6Fx4Q&t=1h53m23s

jader201 3y ago

The same game found also in the Negev Desert from 1200 years ago: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-soap-factory-in-israel https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-soap-factory-in... I actually first learned about Nine Men’s Morris when playing Clubhouse Games on the Switch. It’s actually quite fun for a simple game. https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/clubhouse-games-51-worldwide-classics-switch/ https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/clubhouse-games-51-w...