Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Lost treasure
Lost treasure

The Lewis Chessmen

Uig, Isle of Lewis

Medieval chess pieces carved from walrus ivory, buried in the sand.

In 1831 a hoard of chess pieces was found on the west coast of Lewis. They were carved around 1150 to 1200, mostly from walrus ivory, probably in Norway.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open The Lewis Chessmen on the mapReport a sighting here
When
Found 1831
Where
58.1900, -7.0400
Group
Lost treasure

Visiting

See them at the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland. A giant replica stands at Uig.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Artifacts and Civilizations by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Artifacts and Civilizations

Not every mystery needs a lost continent. This book investigates fifty-nine real and often overlooked puzzles from the ancient and modern world: a temple older than farming itself, astonishing structures, out-of-place artifacts, and technologies lost to time. Each case is weighed honestly, with a clear ledger of the case for and against, so you can make up your own mind. Some cases collapse under scrutiny. Others remain genuinely unexplained. All of them are stranger than Atlantis.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries