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Yeah it seems overly strenuous just to play a once off game, that makes more sense. Though maybe it's hard to look back in our age of cheap and abundant paper.Thanks for the link.
Looks more like game boards to me rather than played games. Players may have used colored marbles or something and the carved dimples prevented rolling.
I found a few after reading this article in La Voz de Galicia a few years ago. The photo is one on the stone bench in front of the Parador Hostal do Reis Católicos side of the Praza do Obradoiro.
Más de 160 tableros de juego escondidos en Compostela sobreviven al paso del tiempo
Fueron tallados en las piedras de algunos de los lugares más emblemáticos de la ciudad en el Barrocowww.lavozdegalicia.es
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It just occurred to me that the person who made a carving could have done it to rent the pieces to pilgrims or to play against them in a bet.Looks more like game boards to me rather than played games. Players may have used colored marbles or something and the carved dimples prevented rolling.
Of course stonemasons always like to leave their mark - some of the "grotesques" in the old church at Fromista are amazing but this one takes my fancy:They look like mason marks to me. Indicators of who cut the stone, which other cut stone(s) relate and the pattern of construction. The fact that they’re now found as paving stones rather than structures simply reflects that stone lasts longer than we or any of our creations will ever do.
Though the idea of noughts and crosses played with a chisel and mallet has a certain appeal. “I saw the angel in the stone and carved until I set it free.”
I've wondered if maybe the grooves function similarly to Snakes & Ladders. Next time I'm in Santiago, I'll find some marbles and see if anyone wants to explore the possible game plays based on the info in the Guardian link!I missed this thread and only stumbled on the Guardian story by accident today.
Fascinating - history of common folk, in plain sight, yet unnoticed.
Here's a link that was in the Guardian piece; it has a lot of information and many photos.
Love it.Next time I'm in Santiago, I'll find some marbles and see if anyone wants to explore the possible game plays based on the info in the Guardian link!
Oh! Look down, look up, wherever you look there are wonders.Maybe you've seen this one - another older Guardian article about history in plain sight to explore.