|
Evidence for Lamlameta
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.1245
Type Ethnography
Location 5°20'25.60"N, 37°26'19.65"E
Date 1971-01-01 - 1971-12-31
Rules 2x12 board. Two counters in each hole. Play starts with an opening move. The first player takes all of the counters out of the rightmost hole or the one to its left, sowing them anti-clockwise in the next two holes, then taking the counters in the next hole and sowing them in the same manner, all around the board, making a pattern of 3, 3, 0, 3, 3. When reaching the hole before the one in which the sowing began, the three counters now in this hole are taken and sown into the next three holes, ending the turn. In the main phase, sowing continues in an anti-clockwise direction from any hole in the player's row, except any that contain two counters. A player likewise cannot sow into any holes in the opponent's row containing two holes, skipping any such holes and continuing sowing in the next available hole. If the last counter of a sowing lands in an occupied hole, these counters are picked up and sowing continues. When the final counter lands in an empty hole in the player's row, if the opposite hole in the opponent's row contains two counters, these are captured as well as the counters from any other holes on the opponent's side which contain two counters. PLay continues until one player cannot move because there are no counters in their row. A new round begins. The players attempt to fill their holes with two counters each. Any hole which a player cannot fill with two counters is eliminated from play, elimination starting from the rightmost hole. The player with the lowest number of holes begins. Play continues until one player has no remaining holes.
Content "Tagega II: Lamlameta This game, is based on two rows each of 12 holes with two balls per hole, and is referred to as lamlaméta, literally "grouped in pairs," a word related to lama, the Gallinya numeral two. The first player would start by picking up the contents of the hole on his extreme right, or more preferably penultimate right, and would then, proceeding in an anti-clockwise direction, drop these balls in the two ensuing holes. He would then pick up the contents of the hole in which his last counter fell and distribute the three balls in his hand in the following three holes, and would continue in this manner thereby rearranging the balls in a 3, 3, 0, 3, 3, 0 pattern, and, on picking up his last three counters, I.e. from the hole immediately preceding the one from which he had begun his gambit, would drop them one by one into the following holes, thereby producing a 1, 4, 1 (sic) arrangement after which his opening move would come to an end. Play was thereafter subject to the following rules: 1. A player was not allowed to start a hand by picking up from one of his own holes containing two balls, though he could pick them up by alighting on them with the last ball in his hand. 2. a player was forbidden from dropping a counter into any of his opponent's holes containing two holes, and was therefore obliged to jump all holes containing such pairs of counters. 3. When a player alighted with the last ball in his hand on one of his empty holes facing an enemy hole containing two counters he captured those counters, as well as any other groups of two balls on his opponent's row. 4. Play came to an end when one of the players could no longer move because he had no more counters on his side. his opponent would thereupon appropriate such balls as remained in his own row and add them to his winnings. The players would then count out their takings by placing them back, two by two, into the gabata board. The more successful player would be able to re-fill his holes, whereas his opponent, if he has lost three or more balls, would be deprived of holes on his right side of the board, the area he had lost being marked off by placing some extraneous object in the first of the lost holes. If the players were each left with one extra ball lots would be drawn to determine their ownership. The ensuing round would be begun by the weaker of the two players." Pankhurst 1971: 187-188.
Confidence 100
Ages Adult
Genders Male
Source Pankhurst, R. 1971. Gabata and Related Board Games of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia Observer 14(3):154-206.
|
