Board Game Token

Today's the day …………………….. to roll the dice

It may not look much but I was more than a little pleased to find this circular bit of slate today on the Tongland Abbey Archaeological Dig - and when I tell you what it is, you might be interested too.

It's a mediaeval Board Game token - the hole in the middle being made by the compass point which was used to draw a circle on the stone before it was cut out by hand.  And the sort of game that it might have been used for could have been 'Merelles' - a sort of 'Nine Men's Morris or perhaps a two-player game similar to noughts and crosses.  

Hand carved gaming boards, like this one have been found at Glenluce Abbey and at Arbroath Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey and Jedburgh Abbey - suggesting that monks found time to play outside the strict routine of monastic life...……………….