A team of Russian archaeologists from the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHMC RAS) and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences during excavations in Turkmenistan discovered a complete set for an unknown ancient board game, TASS reports with reference to the director of the IHMC RAS Andrey Polyakov.
“This year we made a unique find – a set of figures for a certain game was found in one of the burials. Figures were found earlier, but they were scattered. And now we have a set that includes 12 pyramid-shaped stone figures, 8 stone balls, 3 processed serpentinite stones, 3 pistachio fruit-shape chips, 2 shells and imitation cowry shells. Of course, this is a complete set,” Polyakov said.
Archaeologists will have to work long and painstakingly with the sources to understand the purpose, essence and rules of the ancient game characteristic of the Margush civilization, or Margiana, which flourished on the territory of the Gonur-depe settlement in the Bronze Age, at the turn of the III-II millennia BC.
During the recent excavations, scientists of the IHMC RAS also managed to find a large seal with the image of a bull trampling a snake, and other interesting finds related to the local ancient culture. Polyakov said.
In April of this year, after a four-year break due to the pandemic, the Russian-Turkmen Margian Archaeological Expedition, working on the basis of the Center for Anthropoecology of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, resumed its comprehensive research in Karakum.
During the spring archaeological expedition, excavations were carried out on two territories with a total area of more than 1,500 sq. m. to the south and southwest of the central complex of the famous Bronze Age monument Gonur-depe.
Large clay balls with various numbers of small ceramic fragments stuck in them with the tip up, a stone amulet-seal with a double-sided, intriguing image, a number of fragments of a ritual ceramic vessel with preserved frog-shaped stickers, snakes, and other animals were among the finds that attracted the most attention. ///nCa, 15 August 2023
#Ancient_board_game, #Margush_civilization, #Margiana, #Turkmenistan, #Gonur-depe, #Bronze_Age, #archeology