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Looters seem to have rolled the dice and lost when they plundered the tomb of an ancient aristocrat in Qingzhou City, China. When archaeologists uncovered the 2,300-year-old tomb, they found pieces of a mysterious board game, as well as the body of a suspected thief.
Excavations of the tomb and the five burial pits within revealed grave goods, including a 14-sided die, 21 game pieces, and broken bits of a game board, reports LiveScience.
There was evidence the tomb had been extensively looted. Indeed, archaeologists encountered the remains of what may have been one of the grave robbers lying in one of the 26 shafts made by the thieves.
Ancient Chance: The Lost Game of Liubo
The recovered 14-sided die is made of animal tooth. LiveScience writes, “Twelve faces of the die are numbered 1 through 6 in a form of ancient Chinese writing known as ‘seal script.’ Each number appears twice on the die while two faces were left blank.”
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An example of seal script on an iron, Qin Dynasty epigraph. (Public Domain)
The 21 rectangular game pieces have numbers painted on them as well. The broken tile from the game board was pieced together by experts. It had been decorated with two eyes surrounded by clouds and thunder.
