In the hyper-technological world we live in today, it can be hard for those of younger generations to even imagine what people did for fun before the introduction of the internet , the television, or even the radio.
Luckily, archaeologists are on the case, unearthing ancient forms of fun that are then used to educate kids the world over, like this case of a 4,000-year-old board game from Oman’s bronze age!
Archaeologists at an Omani dig site have unearthed a pretty neat discoery.
Digs led by the University of Warsaw and Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism have yielded plentiful results, with an entire Bronze Age settlement being found near Ayn Bani Sa’dah by the Qumayrah Valley. They’ve unearthed plenty of structures so far, but one room contained a particularly neat find.
They dug up what looks to be a board game.
The ‘board’ is a stone tablet, featuring a grid design that would have hosted at least 13 squares with a central indentation.
Piotr Bieliński, University of Warsaw archaeologist and co-leader of this round of excavations, told the Daily Mail that, “Such finds are rare, but examples are known from an area stretching from India, through Mesopotamia even to the Eastern Mediterranean.”
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They mention one of those examples while detailing this find.
“The most famous example of a game board based on a similar principle is the one from the graves from Ur,” Bieliński continued, referring to a board game discovered in 1922 at an ancient royal cemetery in Iraq.
This game was called the Royal Game of Ur.
In fact, the archeologists believe this recent discovery to be similar.
The think it likely that this newly-unearthed game was played similarly to the Royal Game of Ur, which in turn is like modern backgammon.
Two players face off against one another in a race to get all their pieces around the board before their opponent, with opportunities to thwart the other player.
While the game was among their most unique find, there was plenty to be discovered at this site.
“The settlement is exceptional for including at least four towers — three round ones and an angular one,” details archaeologist and Bronze Age specialist Agnieszka Pieńkowska. “One of the round towers had not been visible on the surface despite its large size of up to 20 meters in diameter.”
They even found evidence of a popular trade commodity.
“We finally found proof of copper working at the site, as well as some copper objects,” Bieliński announced. “This shows that our settlement participated in the lucrative copper trade for which Oman was famous at that time.”
Excavation at this site is currently paused, with plans to begin again later this year. Here’s hoping there are plenty more fascinating artifacts just waiting to be found!
h/t: Daily Mail
