From an article in the Edinburgh News:
Posted on June 16, 2003 09:17 PM. Filed under: history & archaeology.IT was as important to a 15th- century aristocrat as a flash car and natty suit are to today's executives.
Beneath Edinburgh Castle's ancient floor, a status symbol that would have been treasured by a courtier of that period has been uncovered.
The simple counter - which would have been used to play backgammon or as a prototype calculator - may have been dropped by a member of King James IV's court, as he counted his riches or relaxed with his fellow aristocrats.
The find has given archaeologists a rare insight into the lives of the rich in Scotland in the 15th century.
Workmen found the deer antler counter in an old drainage pipe as they cleared a site in the Castle's Crown Square in a £3.5 million project to recreate its ancient prison vaults. [continue]