Mysterious board game found in looted Chinese tomb

Mysterious board game found in ancient Chinese tomb, along with suspected dead looter

Looters seem to have rolled the dice and lost when they plundered the tomb of an ancient aristocrat in Qingzhou City, China. When archaeologists uncovered the 2,300-year-old tomb, they found pieces of a mysterious board game, as well as the body of a suspected thief.

Excavations of the tomb and the five burial pits within revealed grave goods, including a 14-sided die, 21 game pieces, and broken bits of a game board, reports LiveScience.

There was evidence the tomb had been extensively looted. Indeed, archaeologists encountered the remains of what may have been one of the grave robbers lying in one of the 26 shafts made by the thieves.

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The recovered 14-sided die is made of animal tooth. LiveScience writes, “Twelve faces of the die are numbered 1 through 6 in a form of ancient Chinese writing known as ‘seal script.’ Each number appears twice on the die while two faces were left blank.”

Full story: www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/mysterious-board-game-found-ancient-chinese-tomb-along-suspected-dead-020623