  the lewis chessmen (or uig chessmen, named after the bay where they were found) are a group of 12th-century chess pieces, along with other gaming pieces, most of which are carved in walrus ivory. discovered in 1831 on the isle of lewis in the outer hebrides, scotland, they may constitute some of the few complete, surviving medieval chess sets, although it is not clear if a set as originally made can be assembled from the pieces. when found, the hoard contained 93 artifacts: 78 chess pieces, 14 tablemen 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. ==origin==  the chessmen were probably made in trondheim, norway, in the 12th century, although some scholars have suggested other nordic countries.robinson, p. 14. during that period, the outer hebrides, along with other major groups of scottish islands, were ruled by norway. according to dr. alex woolf, director of the university of st. andrews institute for medieval studies, there are reasons for believing the pieces came from trondheim: *a broken queen piece in a similar style was found in an excavation of the archbishop's palace - it appeared the piece was broken as it was being made. *the presence of wealthy people in trondheim able to pay craftsmen for high-quality chess pieces. *similar carving in nidaros cathedral in trondheim. *the excavation in trondheim of a kite-shaped shield similar to shields on some of the pieces and a king piece of similar design found on hitra island, near the mouth of trondheim fjord. woolf has said that the armour worn by the chess figures includes "perfect" reproductions of armour worn at the time in norway.{{citation|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/arts/09lewis.html |title=reopening history of storied norse chessmen |publisher=new york times |accessdate=14 september 2010 |date=8 september 2010 |last=mcclain, dylan loeb 
12th_century_in_Scotland Archaeological_artifacts Archaeology_of_Scotland Chess_in_Norway Chess_in_Scotland Chess_sets Collections_of_the_National_Museums_of_Scotland History_of_chess History_of_the_Outer_Hebrides Ivory_works_of_art Lewis Medieval_European_objects_in_the_British_Museum Norse_activity_in_Scotland Romanesque_art Treasure_troves_in_Scotland