Good Job Team!

Hey team,
  I'm thinking that our presentation of the project went pretty well last week!  From what I've heard from people in the class, it was very engaging.  Has anyone else heard some good things?
  There are always things I want to go back and change when I do projects, but I think that we as a group made some good choices as far as making the game pieces and how much we attempted to make authentic.  For the actual game set, as much as I enjoy the game, I dont really think I would have a use for the pieces so I dont feel the need to keep it.  Any one have ideas of what to do with it now?

Presentation 101

Developing a presentation idea can be something a bit troubling. You have to ask yourself so many questions like: "Is this idea something that would catch your eye?" Would this mode of delivery show the elements that need to be shown?" "What colour should it be?" "How can this project be delivered in a respectable and informative way?" It's these types of questions that may lead one to a PowerPoint which is what Team Games plans to do.

There are several sections within the PowerPoint that explain gaming in the Viking Age, including the game Kubb. With this, different cultural representations and modernized notions will be discussed. It's times like this where you get to know your project from an outside party and are able to see the information from a different perspective.

The game went well today gang. Here's our pictures and a small video. I must admit, it feels good to win!

Staining away

Just Painting Away...

Ben and Pam adding a clear sealant to our magnificent piece of work.

This sealant will help protect the wood from different environmental factors as well as allowing no toxins to escape.

Painted Kubb Set!

Hi Team G,

We have successfully painted 2 layers of polyurathane on all of the Kubb pieces! They are still drying at this point but here is a photo anyways... (they look a bit richer in colour ;) )

Kubb Game Set

Hi team Games!

After 2.5 hours of getting copious amounts of treated wood sawdust in my eyes and lungs I have created a masterpiece! Well...not really, but it'll do. 

Here it is sanded down and carved but not painted yet. Since we wanted to keep the wood "au naturel", I bought some wood finish polyurethane that we can hopefully all use together tomorrow. The paint cost $24 so $6 each. The cost owing for the wood is $8 and an extra $2 for beer for pops. So all together everyone owes $16. Is this reasonable? We will no longer need to spend anymore beans until we party after we complete the project ;) I will bring it to campus for us to paint tomorrow along with gloves for everyone. I feel we can prob bumb some paint brushes from the art department. What do you think? 

Gathering materials!

Here are some action shots from gathering our materials with our helper Jordan and Kyla doing some sawing!

Kubb game set so far

Team Games!

Here is our Kubb set so far... Some more sanding has to be done. I think I'll smooth out some of the corners and point the corner markers. Do you think we should paint them? There is that gross toxic wood treatment on some pieces (the king) I wouldn't mind covering up. As you can see, all four sides of the kubbs are shaven down and then cut to their appropriate size just to help get rid of the all sides of the layer of wood treatment.

Viking Games

For my side of this project, I have been looking at different types of games. For example, "Kubb" is a lawn game and I have taken the chance to look at other fields like wrestling, board games, and many others. I'm hoping that with this knowledge, it will allow us to have a better understanding of "Kubb" in terms of why it was played and maybe even why there is no complete evidence of it even existing.

My role

So I'm down with finding out what role Kubb has today and of course, keep working on the game pieces. I need sandpaper if anyone has any? If not I can easily pick some up at Home Depot...

Great meeting yesterday everyone! I'm glad we're all on track and know what each of us is doing. I'm going to do some digging for some more cultural sources for our next meet up.

I'll be posting some pics of our Kubb set very soon!!!

Ok, here's our jobs so far:

Kyla: Comparative analysis for other Viking games compared to Kubb.

Ben: Looking at the cultural reasoning for Viking games to exist; status etc. In Scandinavia

Pam: Continuation of set construction.

Hello All,

Here is the blog of the second "games" group from our class. Just the one post right now, but their blog layout looks sharp. Worth having a quick peek at. Maybe we can spruce things up?

Other games group link

Supplies

Just your average day shopping for materials...

Contribution

For my section of this project, I plan to explain the different types of games that were played during the Viking Age. With this, I hope to be able to set an understanding of why and how these games were played while relating and comparing it to our main subject "Kubb."

Alrighty, I'm going to looking for some more comparative sources linking Kubb to some other games; as well as linkages to contemporary games which may have taken their cues from this and possibly some other similar Viking games.

Home Depot run...

Who wants to join me at Home Depot tomorrow after our meeting??? I'll drive.

Updated Proposal!

Not sure how to just edit, so I'll just put in a new one!
  This is our final proposal (with all the annotations on the bibliography)

Team Games Proposal: "Kubb"

Kyla B

Melanie S

Ben W

Pamela L

Statement:

  We intend to experiment on the game "Kubb" and plan to explain who, what, why, and how the game was played during the Viking age.  We will attempt to play the game by historically accurate rules, or as close to as we know.  As well, we will compare this game to other games played in Sweden during the same time period of Kubb.

Description of Technology:

  Kubb is a game that would most similarly resemble a combination of Chess and lawn bowling and could be paralleled with other games of the time like Tafl. The game uses a series of wooden game/Kubb pieces that are carved to be able freely stand on the ground.  The goal of the game is for one team "to knock over the King [Kubb piece] after having knocked over all the Kubbs on the opposing side of the pitch" (Kubb Rules 2013).

Experiment Questions:

- Was this game common in the Viking Age? How can we tell?

- What makes this game prominent in the Viking Age and why was this seen as a game?

- What evidence supports that this game was played in Sweden during the Viking age?

- Why was this played when there were a variety of other games to play?

- What strategies were employed to win the game.

- What benefits would an individual have for winning a game of Kubb.

- Was Kubb used for dispute resolution?

Materials:

- Wood (various sizes)

- Playing area, preferably grassy and open (we will demonstrate outside for the class)

- Table saw

- Sander/sanding paper

- Wood pencil

- Electric Wood Carver

- Measuring tape

- Rope

- Wood glue

Game Pieces:

- 1 King (12” tall [4x4])

- 10 Kubbs (2.75” x 2.75”/ 5.9” tall)

- 6 Throwing sticks (1.5-2”)

- 4 Corner markers (0.75” dowels)

Anticipated Challenges

- Construction of the pieces themselves.

- Playing the game, and determining whether it is the most historically accurate the way to do it.

- Finding archaeological evidence for Kubb and comparing it to other games of the time.

- Lack of archaeological evidence.

- Lack of Scholarly sources to support proposal of this game being played.

Timeline:

Complete the following by:

Proposal- October 11, 2013

Collect Materials- October 12, 2013

Create Game Pieces- October 16, 2013

Research- October 29, 2013

Write up- November 4, 2013

Project Presentation- November 8, 2013

Final Touches on paper- November 9, 2013

Hand in Paper- November 15, 2013

Bibliography:

Cummiskey, Matthew. (2013). Yard Games in Secondary Physical Education: Kubb 26(4): 25-30.

   The Cummiskey (2013) article discusses how/why contemporary people play yard games; they are affordable, easily built and a playing surface is always within reach. This article will draw a good parallel from Kubb to other games of similar styles that are still played today, like; lawn-bowling, bocce and croquet.

Gardela, L. (2012). What the Vikings did for fun? Sports and pastimes in medieval northern Europe 44(2). pp. 234.

    This particular journal article is about Viking pastimes, focusing on children, adults, and the different popular games that were active at this time.

    With this article, a better understanding of Viking games will be presented; what types of games were played along with how they came to be. Because of this, our group will be able compare and contrast different valued games and the value behind them.

Kubb: the Viking game (2012) New Zealand Physical Educator, December. 45(3):39-30.

    This source outlines the rules and gameplay commonly used in the North American playing of Kubb, as it is used in schools for physical education.  It will be useful for our group to use in playing and teaching the game to the class during our presentation.

Kubb Rules: 2013 http://www.kubb.co.uk/Kubb_rules%20.pdf

    Here, we found the rules followed in the UK playing of Kubb, only slightly different than the North American rules.  This set of rules also contains different optional variations on gameplay, that would be interesting for us to try out to see possible variations that could have been used during the Viking period.

Old time games: 2013 http://www.oldtimegames.com/aboutkubb.html.

    This website is a good example of how Kubb is used in modern day, with a trade-marked product even being sold.  It is interesting to compare this website with possible historical uses of Kubb, as this is a very Americanized version, going so far as to call it “the original American Made Kubb Game!”

Ronström, O. (2008). Kubb: Local identity and global connectedness in a Gotland parish. 4th International Small Island Cultures Conference,17-27. Accessed at: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-1062

    This paper discusses possible cultural uses of the Game Kubb, specifically in an area of Sweden.  Although this article does not contain any archaeological evidence of the use of Kubb, it could help us to discuss other aspects of Kubb that cannot be found in  the archaeological record.

Proposal: Kubb Project

Team Games Proposal: "Kubb"

Kyla B

Melanie S

Ben W

Pamela L

Statement:

  We intend to experiment on the game "Kubb" and plan to explain who, what, why, and how the game was played during the Viking age.  We will attempt to play the game by historically accurate rules, or as close to as we know.  As well, we will compare this game to other games played in Sweden during the same time period of Kubb.

Description of Technology:

  Kubb is a game that would most similarly resemble a combination of Chess and lawn bowling and could be paralleled with other games of the time like Tafl. The game uses a series of wooden game/Kubb pieces that are carved to be able freely stand on the ground.  The goal of the game is for one team "to knock over the King [Kubb piece] after having knocked over all the Kubbs on the opposing side of the pitch" (Kubb Rules 2013).

Experiment Questions:

- Was this game common in the Viking Age? How can we tell?

- What makes this game prominent in the Viking Age and why was this seen as a game?

- What evidence supports that this game was played in Sweden during the Viking age?

- Why was this played when there were a variety of other games to play?

- What strategies were employed to win the game.

- What benefits would an individual have for winning a game of Kubb.

- Was Kubb used for dispute resolution?

Materials:

- Wood (various sizes)

- Playing area, preferably grassy and open - we will demonstrate outside for the class

- Table saw

- Sander/sanding paper

- Wood pencil

- Electric Wood Carver

- Measuring tape

- Rope

- Wood glue

Game Pieces:

- 1 King (12” tall [4x4])

- 10 Kubbs (2.75” x 2.75”/ 5.9” tall)

- 6 Throwing sticks (1.5-2”)

- 4 Corner markers (0.75” dowels)

Anticipated Challenges

- Construction of the pieces themselves.

- Playing the game, and determining whether it is the most historically accurate the way to do it.

- Finding archaeological evidence for Kubb and comparing it to other games of the time.

- Lack of archaeological evidence.

- Lack of Scholarly sources to support proposal of this game being played.

Timeline:

Complete the following by:

Proposal- October 11, 2013

Collect Materials- October 12, 2013

Create Game Pieces- October 16, 2013

Research- October 29, 2013

Write up- November 4, 2013

Project Presentation- November 8, 2013

Final Touches on paper- November 9, 2013

Hand in Paper- November 15, 2013

Bibliography:

Cummiskey, Matthew. (2013). Yard Games in Secondary Physical Education: Kubb 26(4): 25-30.

 The Cummiskey (2013) article discusses how/why contemporary people play yard games; they are affordable, easily built and a playing surface is always within reach. This article will draw a good parallel from Kubb to other games of similar styles that are still played today, like; lawn-bowling, bocce and croquet.

Gardela, L. (2012). What the Vikings did for fun? Sports and pastimes in medieval northern Europe 44(2). pp. 234.

Kubb: the Viking game (2012) New Zealand Physical Educator, December. 45(3):39-30.

   This source outlines the rules and gameplay commonly used in the North American playing of Kubb, as it is used in schools for physical education.  It will be useful for our group to use in playing and teaching the game to the class during our presentation.

Kubb Rules: 2013 http://www.kubb.co.uk/Kubb_rules%20.pdf

   Here, we found the rules followed in the UK playing of Kubb, only slightly different than the North American rules.  This set of rules also contains different optional variations on gameplay, that would be interesting for us to try out to see possible variations that could have been used during the Viking period.

Old time games: 2013 http://www.oldtimegames.com/aboutkubb.html.

   This website is a good example of how Kubb is used in modern day, with a trade-marked product even being sold.  It is interesting to compare this website with possible historical uses of Kubb, as this is a very Americanized version, going so far as to call it “the original American Made Kubb Game!”

Ronström, O. (2008). Kubb: Local identity and global connectedness in a Gotland parish. 4th International Small Island Cultures Conference,17-27. Accessed at: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-1062

   This paper discusses possible cultural uses of the Game Kubb, specifically in an area of Sweden.  Although this article does not contain any archaeological evidence of the use of Kubb, it could help us to discuss other aspects of Kubb that cannot be found in  the archaeological record.