Set of knucklebones

Games with bovine astragali (knucklebones) were popular throughout Europe since Antiquity. Unprocessed bones were used for this purpose, which makes identifying them among countless other bones—typically just food remains—almost impossible. Nevertheless, archaeologists in Lithuania have also managed to uncover bones that were used for games. In 2005, during excavations in the inner courtyard of the Lithuanian Grand Dukes’ Palace in the Lower Castle of Vilnius, a compact pile of 59 bovine astragali was found. Some of them showed cut marks, indicating processing. It is believed that all these bones belonged to a single person’s gaming set. Additionally, a scorched phalange found nearby may also have been part of the set.

 

During osteological analysis, Professor Dr. Linas Daugnora determined that 58 of the bones came from goats or sheep, and one likely from a roe deer. Of those, 35 were identified specifically as goat bones, and only 5 as sheep. This quantitative difference suggests either a deliberate preference for goat bones in gaming or greater consumption of goat meat, making their knucklebones more readily available.

 

The circumstances of the discovery provide interesting insights into the potential owner of the gaming set. The burnt layer, where the bones were found alongside remains of several wooden buildings, dates to the first quarter of the 15th century and is sometimes associated with the fire of 1419. In the same layer near the gaming bones, several square pits were discovered, containing nearly 100 stone projectiles and more than 500 crossbow bolts—most of them also burned. It is likely that the charred buildings in this layer were related to military structures, such as barracks or an arsenal. Therefore, it can be assumed that the set of gaming bones found near the remains of a burnt building may have belonged to soldiers stationed in the castle.