Whale Bone Artifacts

At https://phys.org/print448179407.html … large scale whale hunting goes back to the 6th century AD we are told, according to a new study in the European Journal of Archaeology (2018). Museum collections in Sweden contain thousands of Iron Age board game pieces – most of which were made from the bones of whales. In addtion, all the pieces come from the Right Whales. This gained its name as the 'right' whale to hunt down as it swims slowly, close to shore, and contains so much blubber it floated after being harpooned. The whaling was centred on northern Norway where production facilities for blubber and large boat houses have been found by archaeologists. The gaming pieces were probably made in situ it is thought, and traded south – ending up in Swedish graves.