A stone game board with marked fields and cavities was discovered by Polish archaeologists in the settlement from over 4,000 years ago. Finds of this type are rare. Several are known from the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia, the researchers note.
The Polish Center of Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw informed PAP (Polish Press Agency) about the discovery made during the research completed in December last year.
As reported, the main subject of research was the Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement in the area of the village of Ayn Bani Saidah in Oman.
“In one of the rooms of a large building from the Umm an-Nar period (2500-2000 BC) we found a game board,” said the research leader prof. Piotr Bieliński. The project is co-chaired by Dr. Sultan al-Bakri, Director General for Archeology of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of the Sultanate of Oman.
The board is made of stone and has fields and cavities marked. Scientists describe the find as “the most exciting and completely unexpected” in the last season of research.