Archaeological find: old playing cards under the floorboards
The municipal archaeological service in Dordrecht (Netherlands) recently found some antique playing cards under the floorboards inside an old public bar.
The municipal archaeological service in Dordrecht (Netherlands) recently found some old playing cards under the floorboards inside a bar formerly called ‘Hof van Holland’, located at Kuipershaven 11 in Dordrecht. Second only to antique book bindings, this is a favourite location to discover old cards.
This shop/bar was active between c.1650 and 1800. The venue was sold in 1807 whereupon the first floor most likely was no longer used as a public space.
On the first floor there were two floors. The first was a tile floor which can be dated between 1580 and 1688. The second was a raised wooden floor. In between was an open space which served as an “artefact-trap” for all the small items that disappeared between the cracks in the floor. We found a rich find among which are smoking-pipes, coins and playing/game-items such as these cards, dice and wooden game pieces.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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