The Lewis chessmen ( ) or Uig chessmen, named after the island or the bay where they were found, are a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces, along with other game pieces, most of which are carved from walrus ivory. Discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, they may constitute some of the few surviving medieval chess sets, although it is not clear if a single complete period-accurate set can be assembled from the pieces. When found, the hoard contained 94 objects: 78 chess pieces, 14 tablemen (pieces for backgammon or similar games) and one belt buckle. Today, 82 pieces are owned and usually exhibited by the British Museum in London, and the remaining 11 are at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh; at least one chess piece is owned privately.
Origin and discovery
The Lewis chessmen were probably made between 1150 and 1200 AD. They are commonly believed to have been made in Trondheim, Norway, though some scholars have alternatively suggested Icelandic or local Hebridean manufacture. They are usually thought to have been brought to Lewis as part of a merchant's wares.
The chessmen were discovered in 1831. Most accounts have said they were found at Uig Bay on the west coast of Lewis, but Caldwell et al. of National Museums Scotland consider that Mealista, which is also in the parish of Uig and some further south down the coast, is a more likely place for the hoard to have been discovered. Their discovery was initially credited to an unnamed local peasant; the name of the discoverer is first recorded in 1863 as Malcolm MacLeod from the nearby township of Pennydonald.
Description
thumb|upright=1.3|right|Three bishops from the Lewis hoard in the collection of the National Museum of Scotland. Different versions of the same piece vary noticeably in size.
Almost all of the pieces in the collection are carved from walrus ivory, with a few made instead from whale teeth. The 79 chess pieces consist of 8 kings, 8 queens, 16 bishops, 15 knights, 13 warders (rooks) and 19 pawns.