Sometimes there's an archaeological find that makes all that laborious digging, careful brushing and meticulous cataloguing worth it – such as the 1,200-year-old board game piece that researchers have found on an island off the coast of northeastern England.
有時，考古發現使得所有這些費力的挖掘、仔細的刷牙和細緻的編目都是值得的-比如研究人員在英格蘭東北部海岸外的一個島嶼上發現了一件1200年前的棋盤遊戲。
This is thought to be a 'King' piece from a Viking board game hnefatafl ("king's table"), which is similar to chess.
這被認為是維京棋盤遊戲Hnefatafl(“國王的桌子”)中的“國王”棋子，類似於國際象棋。
It's made of white and blue glass, and is about the size of a small sweet or chocolate.
它是由白色和藍色的玻璃製成的，大約有一個小糖果或巧克力大小。
The archaeological treasure was uncovered on a site on Lindisfarne, a small island of huge religious and cultural significance in the Northumberland region, by a team from Durham University in the UK and crowdfunding archaeology organisation DigVentures.
英國達勒姆大學(Durham University)的一個團隊和眾籌考古組織DigVentures在林迪斯法恩島(Lindisfarne)的一個遺址上發現了這些考古寶藏。林迪斯法恩島是諾森伯蘭地區一個具有巨大宗教和文化意義的小島。
Part of its value lies in its age: experts think it dates back around 1,200 years, originating in the 8th or 9th centuries.
它的價值部分在於它的年代：專家認為它可以追溯到大約1200年前，起源於8世紀或9世紀。
This is when the Viking raids on Great Britain were just beginning.
這是維京人對大不列顛的突襲剛剛開始的時候。
The next 300 years of upheaval would reshape the country forever.
未來300年的劇變將永遠重塑這個國家。
But despite the timing, the researchers aren't convinced the piece was brought there by the Vikings.
但是，儘管時間安排，研究人員並不相信這件作品是由維京人帶到那裡的。
"Many people will be familiar with Viking versions of the game, and I'm sure plenty of people will wonder whether this gaming piece was dropped by a Viking during the attack on Lindisfarne," says archaeologist Lisa Westcott Wilkins, Managing Director of DigVentures.
DigVentures董事總經理、考古學家Lisa Westcott Wilkins說：“很多人都會熟悉這款遊戲的維京版本，我相信很多人會懷疑這款遊戲是不是維京人在襲擊林迪斯法恩時掉下來的。”
"We believe it actually belonged to a version of the game that was played by the elites of Northern Britain before the Vikings ever set foot here."
“我們相信它實際上屬於北不列顛精英在維京人踏足之前就玩過的一種遊戲版本。”
If the piece is from a local version of hnefatafl, it shows the growing influence of Nordic culture on the ancient monastery at Lindisfarne and the rest of the medieval Northumbrian region.
如果這件作品來自當地版本的Hnefatafl，它顯示了北歐文化對林迪斯法恩的古代修道院和中世紀諾森伯利亞地區其他地方的日益增長的影響。
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