Playing in the past

The Kilwinning Dig has continued their excavations over the past week, in glorious sunshine with only the odd shower, to reveal more buried elements of Kilwinning Abbey. This was the second week of our five week 2010 field season within the Abbey and around Kilwinning.

The volunteer teams are also starting to recover material that will give a real insight into the lives of the Monks who lived in Kilwinning Abbey and the community who supported them. A remarkable find last week has been a graffiti gaming board scored onto a roofing slate recovered from Trench 10 in the Cloister. One of our volunteers, 8 year old Callum Burns, discovered it while helping dig the trench.

Graffiti gaming boards are created by scored lines and points onto building stone or roofing slate for use in counter based games. Typically these games were played with nine counters (or men) per player giving its name of ‘Nine Men’s Morris’. The use of building material for the boards suggests they were made by masons or other workers – but the same boards could have been used in the broader community.

The Kilwinning Abbey Slate has a single board on one side formed of three concentric rectangles, the sides of which are each bisected by an intersecting line giving 24 points where counters can be placed. The form of this board suggests it is an early version, similar to boards from Dryburgh Abbey and Arbroath Abbey which are dated to the 13th or 14th century.

Three more weeks of excavation are ahead of the team and we are hoping for many more exciting finds from the trenches. Throughout the excavations the public are welcome to visit, explore the Abbey, discover the past of Kilwinning in the Heritage Centre and climb the tower for a stunning view of the town and Ayrshire. You can also follow the project and ask questions of the team on our Facebook page.