Druid Of Colchester
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The “Druid of Colchester” is the name of an archaeological site discovered in Stanway, near
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...
. It is the grave of a person buried with surgical tools and a small board-game. The person whose cremated remains were buried in the grave could have been either a man or a woman, and is also called the ''
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
of Colchester'' (or the ''surgeon of Colchester'').


Discovery

The grave was discovered by archaeologists in 1996, at the village of Stanway, Essex, The find is believed to be that of an
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
dated . It is one among a number of graves of eminent people found, believed to be buried around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 CE. The area was then associated with the
Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and thei ...
tribe.


Artifacts

In the wooden chambered burial site, archaeologists uncovered cremated human remains, and a
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
– the first time that such a game has been found virtually intact. Other items uncovered included a cloak decorated with brooches, a jet bead believed to have magical properties, medical equipment, a tea strainer still containing some kind of herbal brew, and some mysterious metal poles conjectured to be used for divining. The surgical kit consisted of 13 instruments including: A cup was also found, containing traces of the herb mugwort. The tea strainer also contained herbs commonly associated with herbal remedies in ancient times. Philip Crummy, director of the trust, remained cautious, adding that there may be other explanations. "In the report we draw the possibility that this man or woman was a
druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
," he wrote: :"The so-called 'druid' could have been a doctor. The tea strainer contains artemisia pollen, which is commonly associated with herbal remedies. Healing is an attribute given to druids. We don't know what the metal rods are for, but we think they could have been used for divining. The question is whether all that stacks up to him
r her R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...
being a druid. It could be – it was certainly somebody special." The medical kit was "fairly Romanized" and the individual may have acted "like a Roman surgeon / doctor would have done." "Divination was widely practiced in the Roman world too," he added. Because of the site's age and location, archaeologist Mike Pitts believed the person was indeed a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
druid, and could have been closely related to
Cunobelinus Cunobeline or Cunobelin (Common Brittonic: *''Cunobelinos'', "Dog-Strong"), also known by his name's Latin form , was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about to about Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus [Cymbeline/nowiki> (d. ''c''. AD 40), king in ...
, a chief or king of the Catuvellauni tribe.


The Stanway game

The grave contained a
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
, with its blue and white glass board-pieces laid out ready for start of play. Surviving metal corners and hinges from the game board allowed a reconstruction to be created; it is believed to be a 55×40 centimetre (21×15 inch) rectangle with play over a board of 8×12 squares. The white and blue glass tokens – 13 for each side – were ranged opposite each other, similar to the starting position in chess. All pieces were of equal size, except for a single, smaller white bead positioned close to the centre of the board. Given the absence of dice, Irving Finkel, Finkel (2009) speculated that the game was purely strategic. A detailed analysis of the game by Schädler (2007) argues that the game is neither Roman latrunculi, nor XII scripta, but in fact a relative of the Celtic game known as fidchell or gwyddbwyll. The find suggests the game was played on either 8×12 or 9×13 squares using 13 pieces per side. The presence of just one smaller bead may indicate that the game was asymmetrical, with a king-like piece belonging to one side, as in tafl games. Alternatively, some people believe this board may have been used along with the metal rods for divining purposes. In 2015, Colchester resident Alex Jones developed a board game he calls ''Aquila'' inspired by the Stanway game. At least one ''Aquila'' tournament was held at the Colchester Roman Circus Centre in September 2015.


Footnotes


References

{{reflist, 25em, refs= {{cite web , title=Courier game , website=Chess Variants , url=http://www.chessvariants.org/historic.dir/courier.html {{cite web , first=Zoe , last=Forsey , date=2015-09-01 , title=Alex brings game back from the dead , newspaper=Daily Gazette & Essex County Standard , url=http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/13636695.Alex_brings_game_back_from_the_dead/ {{cite AV media , series=Games Britannia , number=1 , title=Dicing with Destiny , publisher=
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
, date= 8 December 2009
{{cite news , newspaper=The Independent , date=22 November 1997 , department=Style & design , title=Items and icons treasures {{cite web , first=Andrew , last=Johnson , date=2011-10-23 , title=Iron Age mystery of the Essex druid , newspaper=The Independent , url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/iron-age-mystery-of-the-essex-druid-812194.html {{cite book , first=Ulrich , last=Schädler , year=2007 , chapter=The doctor’s game – new light on the history of ancient board games , editor1-last=Crummy , editor1-first=Philip , editor2-last=Benfield , editor2-first=S. , editor3-last=Crummy , editor3-first=N. , editor4-last=Rigby , editor4-first=V. , editor5-last=Shimmin , editor5-first=D. , title=Stanway: An Elite Burial Site at Camulodunum , series=Britannia Monograph Series , volume=24 , publisher=Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies , location=London, UK , pages=359–375 , chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2135694 , via=Academia.edu , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012085805/http://goddesschess.com/chessays/stanschadler.pdf , archive-date=2011-10-12 {{cite news , newspaper=
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, date=6 September 1996 , title=Roman board game found at burial site
Druids History of Colchester