Somewhere near Hadrian's Wall, two people are about to sit down and play a strategy game on a board that last saw a match around 1,700 years ago. Not behind glass. Actually play it.
This week the 3D printing press picked up a story we love: Newcastle University and the Vindolanda Charitable Trust teamed up to 3D scan a Roman game board excavated in 2019 and 3D print a playable replica for museum visitors. It is a perfect little case study in what 3D scanning and additive manufacturing do best: taking a one-of-a-kind physical object and giving it a second life, without risking the original.
Roman Britain's favorite game, found beside a bath-house drain
The board was unearthed at Vindolanda, a Roman fort site just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Archaeologists found it tucked between a bath-house drain and a workshop wall, beside a late third-century road. It was made for Ludus Latrunculorum, sometimes called "the game of little brigands or soldiers," a two-player strategy game a bit like draughts where you trap your opponent's pieces. It was the most popular board game in Roman Britain, played by soldiers, women, children, traders, basically everyone at the fort.
Vindolanda holds 16 gaming boards, roughly 15 percent of every example found in Roman Britain, which makes it the largest collection in the country. The original board is currently on loan to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto for the exhibition "Unearthing Vindolanda," running through 2026 and 2027. Which raised a question: how do you let visitors back home keep experiencing the object while the real one is an ocean away?
Five stones, one handheld scanner, one PLA print
Before the board shipped to Canada, Vindolanda's curators brought it to Newcastle University's School of Engineering, where Paul Watson and Dr Jenny Olsen led the replication project. The original board is actually five separate stone pieces that fit together. Each piece was scanned individually with a handheld Artec 3D Spider, a high-resolution structured-light scanner that captures a dense cloud of positional points and turns it into an accurate 3D model.
From there, the team printed the pieces in PLA. The finished replica went back to the Roman Army Museum near Vindolanda, where visitors can now physically play the game instead of just looking at it. The same scan data also powers an interactive on-screen model that visitors can rotate and zoom. One scan, two deliverables. That is the quiet superpower of good scan data: capture the geometry once and you can print it, display it, archive it, or modify it forever.
I have an old part with no drawings or CAD files. Can someone 3D scan it and remake it?
Yes. If you have the physical object, even worn or broken, a 3D scanning and reverse engineering service can capture its geometry, rebuild it as a clean CAD model, and 3D print a new one, no original drawings required. This is exactly the workflow the Newcastle team used on the Roman board, and it is the same one we run at DC Additive Pros for discontinued brackets, vintage automotive trim, obsolete machine components, and one-off fixtures. The scanner captures what the part actually is, then an engineer rebuilds the design intent: flattening warped surfaces, restoring worn features, and re-adding the geometry time chewed away. You can learn more about how we do it on our 3D scanning and reverse engineering service page.
My original is fragile and one of a kind. Will 3D scanning damage it?
No. Structured-light and laser 3D scanning are completely non-contact, so nothing touches the object except light. That is why museums trust the process with irreplaceable artifacts like a Roman stone board. The Vindolanda team even scanned each of the five fragments themselves after a short demo, which says a lot about how gentle and approachable modern scanners have become. For fragile heirlooms, cracked castings, or brittle plastics, scanning first is actually the safest thing you can do, because once the geometry is captured digitally the original never has to be handled, shipped, or stressed again.
What this means for makers and engineering buyers
If a university lab can resurrect a 1,700-year-old artifact well enough that people can play it, think about what the same pipeline does for your discontinued OEM part, your grandfather's tractor knob, or that obsolete housing your production line depends on. Scan, rebuild, print, done. And material choice scales with the job: PLA was right for a museum replica, but the same geometry can be printed in carbon-fiber nylon for strength or in PEEK or ULTEM for high-temperature, engineering-grade applications. When the part is approved, we can produce and ship it straight to you or your customers from our shop in Rockville, MD.
One more note: if you make 3D scanners, filament, or printing hardware and want an honest hands-on writeup in this series, we test gear in real production work. Reach out at info@dcadditivepros.com.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to 3D scan and 3D print a replacement part?
It depends on the part's size and complexity, but small mechanical parts are usually far cheaper to scan and reprint than to tool up for traditional manufacturing. Send photos and dimensions to info@dcadditivepros.com and we will quote it for free.
Can you 3D print a part from a photo instead of a scan?
Sometimes. Simple shapes can be remodeled from photos and measurements, but a 3D scan is far more accurate for curved, organic, or precision-fit parts. If you can mail us the part or bring it by, scanning almost always gives a better result.
What materials can a scanned replica or replacement part be printed in?
Common options include PLA and PETG for display pieces, carbon-fiber nylon for tough functional parts, and PEEK, ULTEM, or PPSU for high-heat and chemical-resistant applications. The right material depends on where the part lives and what loads it sees.
How long does 3D scanning and reverse engineering take?
Most single-part scan and rebuild jobs take days, not weeks, and printing typically adds a few days depending on material. Complex assemblies or engineering-grade materials can take longer, and we will give you a timeline with your quote.