Dice & Dice Games

An entire hoard of children&# 39;s toys found at Market Harborough parish church, England. A charming stash of the everyday playthings of 16th or 17th century children, the hoard throws a rare spotlight on the material culture of children in the archaeolog ical record. Staff at Harborough Museum dated the collection to the late Tudor and early Stuart era (1570-1630 ). The hoard was comprised of street toys, specifical ly 117 objects known as tipcats, 89 spinning tops, 13 sap whistles, 6 knucklebon es, 7 balls, 5 whip handles, 2 possible teetotums (a kind of spinning top) and 8 wooden cylinder objects that were also thought to be toys.

A single establishment might well serve multiple functions. While a single building might serve as a church for the Glory of God and yet at the same time be a hospital to tend to the sick and injured, another multi-purpose establishment might be combination restaurant, bar, gambling den, and brothel. One such establishment has left a curious document, which details various games played and wagers placed within, during the later years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first. These games include Hazard, Basset, High Roll, Quilles, Shove-Groat, Landsquenet, Ranter Go Round, Poch (or Glic), Alquerque A Doz, Queek, and the Game of the Goose.

This is the year 1008, maybe 1010. A group of people is clearing the way towards what is today known as Isère. Women are accompanied by children; men at arms are riding their horses, while others are leading their pigs, goats and cows in a great fuss. They have put what they need to live in carts. This adventure will lead them to the wooded shores of Paladru Lake. Who are these farmer-knights?

The Norse people delighted in games and sports. Both indoor board games and outdoor sporting competitions appear to have been regular leisure time activities. The saga literature and archaeological evidence support this view.

Medieval games, and especially children&# 39;s games, reconstruc ted from medieval manuscript s and descriptio ns.

Games of the Middle Ages, specifical ly focusing on board games popular in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Links to extant pieces of pre-17th century gaming equipment, as well as depictions of people playing games.

Dice and dice games, gaming pieces and board games (including hnefatafl, duodecim scripta, merels, halatafl, chess, and draughts), knucklebones, and riddles.

Philip Stubbes started writing around 1581 producing small tracts in which he sharply denounced the manners, pastimes, fashions and culture in England. His major work, The Anatomie of Abuses, was first published in 1583.

P hilip Stubbes had a gift for keen observatio n. Although his comments should not be considered to reveal mainstream thought or opinions of the time, (even his contempora ries thought him extreme) his virulent attacks on the abuses in fashion and English society provide us with a detailed, colorful and picturesqu e glimpse into the England of Shakespear e's youth.

Wherein is deciphered, all the conueyances of Legerdemaine and Iugling, how they are effected, & wherin they chiefly consist.

Cautions to beware of cheating at Cardes and Dice.

The detection of the beggerly Art of Alcumistry, & the foppery of foolish cousoning Charmes.

All tending to mirth and recreation, especially for those that desire to haue the insight and priuate practise thereof.

Spoons, Ligulae, and Forks; Lamps and Candlesticks; Steelyards, Balances, and Measures; Bells; Objects Used in Games; Spindles, Needles, and Netting-tools; Strigils; Oculists' Stamps; Writing Appliances and Seal Boxes

In spite of a large body of literature on the Norse world during the Viking era the topic of Norse pastimes is poorly represented. This paper is an attempt to provide a survey of what is currently known about the topic. A listing of available articles, archaeological artifacts, references from some of the sagas, books, and web pages will all be given space here.