Bunnock or "Game of Bones"
Bunnock, also commonly known as "Game of Bones" and sometimes as Glockenspiel, is a kind of skittles game that is played with bones. The game is believed to have been created as a pass time activity in the early 19th century by Russian soldiers stationed in northern Siberia. It is a fun game which later turned into a competitive sport.
Bunnock is a team sport in which the objective for each team is to knock down the other team's row of bones by throwing more bones at them. The standing bones have to be knocked down in a specific order for it to count as valid.
A game is played between two teams with two to eight players or more per team. At the start, two rows of bones, 11 white bones (inside soldiers) per row, are setup in an upright position about 10m apart with one guard bone (black bones) placed at either end 40cm apart. One row of guard and soldier bones belongs to each team.
In game play, teams have to first knock down the guard bones followed by the white bones before the other team knocks them down. Each player gets to throw twice. The team to first knock down all the bones wins the game.
Similar Sports
- Gorodki — a folk sport from Russia, where competitors strike down a group of cylindrical wooden objects by throwing a bat.
- Kubb — a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks ('kubbs') by throwing wooden batons at them.
- Mölkky — players use a wooden pin (also called "mölkky") to try to knock over wooden pins.
- Finnish Skittles — opposing players take turns to knock down their opponent's skittles by throwing a bat.
Related Pages
- About Bowling sports (general)
- Complete list of sports
- About Sport in Russia
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events