The kernos (slab with cup marks) at the square of the House of the Benches and an interpretation of how the spheres could be associated. Credit: Konstantinos Trimmis

Archaeologists from the University of Bristol have suggested that mysterious stone spheres found at various ancient settlements across the Aegean and Mediterranean could be playing pieces from one of the earliest ever board games.

The stones, which range from around 4,500 to 3,600 years old, were found at the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini. They are smaller than golf balls, various colors and made from different materials.

In the new study, published in Journal of Archaeological Science, researchers examined common features on 700 stones using a new machine learning methodology. The analysis placed the stones into two groups of larger and smaller stones.

“The most important finding of the study is that the speres fit two major clusters. This supports the hypothesis that they were used as counters for a board game with the spheres most possibly have been collected to fit these clusters rather than a counting system for which you would expect more groupings,” said postdoctoral researcher and study author Christianne Ferneé.

In addition, in Akrotiri and in other settlements across the Aegean, researchers have found stone slabs with shallow cup marks where the spheres could have sat or been placed. This further supports the idea of the stones as a game, say the researchers.

“The social importance of the spheres, as indicated by the way they were deposited in specific cavities, further supports the idea of the spheres being part of a game that was played for social interaction. This gives a new insight into the social interaction in the Bronze Age Aegean,” said research assistant Konstantinos Trimmis.

The next stage of the research is to apply a similar methodology to the slabs to see if there is clustering in the cup marks and trying to associate the spheres and slabs together. The team also hopes to use artificial intelligence techniques to determine how the game was actually played.

If these spheres are in fact part of a boardgame, they will be one of the earliest examples, along with similar examples from the Levant and Egypt, such as the Egyptian Mehen and Senet.

Information provided by University of Bristol.

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