What’s Left of Games are Boards Alone : on Form, Incidence, and Variability of Engraved Game Boards at Vijayanagara (c. AD 1350-1565)

Abstract

Ancient remains of game boards have been relatively little researched in archaeology. A common view holds that such finds represent somewhat periphery, less informative artefacts. Another established tendency is to approach them out of classificatory, game-typological aims. This paper argues that both perspectives have isolating effects on the finds, thereby making the field archaeologically difficult to access. Based on a study of engraved game boards documented at the site of the ancient city of Vijayanagara (c. AD 1350-1565), this paper offers a more empirically grounded path by, rather than identifying the boards as games, focusing on them as primarily archaeological objects with distinctly archaeological attributes. This has made visible some distinguishing traits, which may not have been as easily detected with a game classificatory approach