May
29
/ 2020
In April 2020, Norwegian archaeologists from the University Museum of Bergen were excavating the remains of a small Early Iron Age burial cairn near the village of Ytre Fosse, overlooking Alversund in western Norway. There, they discovered several fragments of broken pottery and burnt glass, but buried amidst these artifacts they also found a rare, elongated, Roman Iron Age (100-400 AD) die and board game playing pieces. Historically, the nearby Alverstraumen straight was an important location on the ancient sea route between the north and south of Norway, named Nordvegen, “the northern way,” from which Norway takes its name. Dr. Morten Ramstad from Bergen University Museum told NRK that this discovery was “wonderfully exciting” because they found the whole game
