Even in the Bronze Age there was more to life than work. Excavations at a burial site in south-east Turkey have revealed a set of 49 sculpted pieces that may once have been used in board games. They are among the oldest evidence of such games ever found.
Haluk Sa臒lamtimur at in 陌zmir, Turkey, and colleagues made the find during excavations of a 5000-year-old burial at the site of Ba艧ur H枚y眉k, . The stone pieces, which were found gathered together in a cluster, show a bewildering array of shapes and styles. Some are carved into elaborate pigs and dogs, whereas simpler ones are pyramids and bullet-shaped.
Sa臒lamtimur discussed the finds at the annual International Symposium of Excavations, Surveys and Archaeometry in the Turkish city of Mu臒la. He thinks the pieces belong to some complicated chess-like game. His team now hopes to work out the strategies that the game must have involved.
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Not so fast, says Ulrich Sch盲dler, director of the in La Tour-de-Peilz. 鈥淒o the objects really all belong to one game? I would answer no,鈥� he told 快猫短视频. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the slightest trace of a board game using more than two different kinds of pieces before chess.鈥� Early forms of chess were not played until about 1500 years ago.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know much about board games of the Bronze Age,鈥� says Sch盲dler.
Of the few that do survive 鈥� including the and the that was played in Mesopotamia 鈥� most seem to have been relatively simple, involving racing around the board faster than the opponent.
Sch盲dler thinks it is more likely that the Turkish playing pieces are associated with several of these simple games. 鈥淭he pyramids resemble the dice of the Royal Game of Ur,鈥� he says.
