Archaeologists Have Discovered A Mysterious Game That Is 4,600 Years Old
- 4.09.2026, 12:13
An unusual discovery was made in Iran's "Burnt City."
Archaeologists have discovered a 4,600-year-old board game in Shahri-Sukhteh—an ancient settlement known as the “Burnt City” in Iran. The discovery was made during the 21st excavation season at the UNESCO World Heritage Site in southeastern Iran.
Along with the toy, researchers found a decorated bone comb, remnants of textiles and leather, traces of eggs, pottery, and previously undescribed burial forms, according to Arkeonews.
Scientists noted that the recently discovered object represents a different type of board game than the one already known from Shahri-Sukhta. The exact design, rules, and full set of components for this game have not yet been published, so researchers cannot say how it was played.
The previous game was discovered in Tomb No. 731 in 1977 by members of an Italian archaeological expedition. The set consisted of a wooden board, 27 pieces, and dice, and is generally estimated to date from approximately 2600–2400 BCE. Researchers compared it to the “Royal Game of Ur” from Mesopotamia.
Since no written rules have survived, Sam Jelve and Hossein Moradi subsequently proposed a possible reconstruction based on archaeological evidence and similarities to the “Game of Twenty” tradition, while noting that the original rules remain unknown.
The new game may indicate that the inhabitants of Shahri-Sukhta used more than one game system. However, this conclusion remains preliminary until the team of archaeologists publishes more information about the find and its context. Archaeologists have yet to determine whether all of its parts have survived and whether it was personal property, a funerary object, or something related to another social practice.
Several other unusual finds were discovered at the cemetery. Among them are an engraved bone comb and organic remains, including textiles, leather, and an egg. Such materials usually decompose quickly, but the dry environment around Shahri-Sukhta helped preserve evidence that rarely survives to the present day.
The excavations have also changed our understanding of daily life in the city. In the northeastern residential district, archaeologists discovered two architectural periods, animal remains, tools, stone-working waste, animal figurines, and hearths. This evidence suggests that the area was used for more than just industrial activities. Craft production, it appears, took place alongside ordinary household activities.
Shakhri-Sukhte was one of the main urban centers of the Helmand cultural complex in the 3rd millennium BCE. According to UNESCO, the city was founded around 3200 BCE and remained inhabited throughout four major periods until approximately 1800 BCE.
Its ruins include residential, industrial, monumental, and funerary zones, and archaeological evidence points to contacts with Central Asia, the Indus region, the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and southwestern Iran.
Recent finds provide a more detailed picture of this large Bronze Age community. A board game provides insight into leisure and social life, a comb into personal appearance, textiles and leather into material culture, and hearths and food remains into daily activities.
Taken together, they show that Shahri-Sukhte was not merely a site with workshops and graves, but a city where people worked, lived, entertained themselves, and observed elaborate funeral rites.