sports and recreation: Europe EUROPE BY J USTIN CORFIELD The archaeological record of prehistoric Europe tells us very little about recreation and sport, and indeed these concepts as they are familiar to us in the modern Western world may not have existed People probably found small amusements frequently in the course of their everyday life, but they may have involved telling stories, making music, or joking Sports as competition in games and recreation as involving sport seem to have been relatively late developments in the human story; until modern times they seem to have been unknown in many parts of the world At the Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, a number of small wellcarved stone balls have been found Were they used in a game possibly similar to marbles, or did they play some ceremonial function? We can only guess Throughout Europe during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age many sports may have been connected with training boys and men for battle Although there is little direct evidence for them, competitions in archery, javelin throwing, horse riding, and swordplay would have been natural accompaniments to training in these activities It also seems probable that the Celts in Gaul and Britain engaged in chariot racing Certainly their agility in battle, which Julius Caesar commented upon, meant that they had much practice, and it is reasonable to surmise that the development of these skills might have had a recreational aspect to it prior to their employment in combat A number of games and sports were limited to specific peoples or areas Many Celts, for example, took part in games such as shinty, which seems to have been popular from the start of the Iron Age Players on two opposing teams used Bronze group of a bull and acrobat, Minoan, about 1700–1450 b.c.e., from Crete; bull jumping is frequently shown in Minoan art and was thought to be a sport associated with ritual activity (© The Trustees of the British Museum) 1053 sticks to hit a hard ball into a goal, much as in field hockey A modern version of shinty is still played in Scotland, and hurling, a related sport resembling lacrosse, is still popular in Ireland The ancient Celts seem to have believed that such sports provided good training for men and boys who were going to serve in battle In Scotland many men engaged in weight sports such as tossing the caber, which was popular among the Picts and remains a feature of present-day Highland games, as a test of strength The sport, highlighting accuracy and skill rather than distance, consisted in throwing a long, tapered length of wood such that it turned over in the air and landed pointing at the thrower In the Balearic Islands boys were trained intensively from a young age to use the sling As to indoor games and recreations, it seems likely that dice were used—certainly many dice have survived in Roman settlements, and it seems likely that enterprising traders would have sold dice to the Celts Celts also played games with knucklebones as well as a form of chess In the area of music Europeans had been playing instruments such as flutes, drums, lyres, and cymbals for many centuries, and by around 1000 b.c.e they were making bronze trumpets, as indicated by numerous finds in northern Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia, and especially Ireland In addition to music there was spoken entertainment Celtic bards, in particular, had a reputation for being able to recite stories of ancient times, former kings, and valorous deeds During Roman times poetry reading and oratory became more important in cities throughout the Roman Empire Eating and drinking at large communal feasts was a popular recreation both in the Celtic world and after the Romans took control of Gaul and Britain, with some references in Roman works to similar events taking place in Germany, and archaeological evidence in Denmark also pointing to the use of large halls for eating Feasts of this kind often provided a venue for dancing, music, and the telling of old stories Women and girls danced for their own pleasure and also for the entertainment of others Large-scale spectator sports seem not to have existed in most of Europe before the Romans brought their gladiatorial shows, which became popular in larger cities throughout the conquered lands Ancient Europeans attended these events as onlookers, and many who had been captured in war and enslaved fought in them as gladiators, with particular dress codes for those who were Germans, Celts, Thracians, and so on A glass cup found at Colchester, England, clearly shows two gladiators fighting Other blood sports of the period included badger-baiting, bull-baiting, cockfights, and hunting While much of the hunting was to provide food, there was also an element of sporting prowess, with trophies such as horns or the heads of the animals being displayed after the hunt There are also descriptions of bullfighting taking place in Spain, with men in Baetica, Andalusia, in about 220 b.c.e attacking bulls with a lance or an ax in an arena, after using a cloak or skins to confuse the bull