Board Games and Funerary Symbolism in Greek and Roman Contexts (original) (raw)

In Greece in the Archaic period miniature clay models of game-boards found in Attic tombs indicate that board games were symbolically associated in some way with death. 2 The earliest example, dating to the middle of the seventh century (protoattique moyen), comes from the offering trench of a cremation burial at Vari. The game-board has the form of a squareish table. The fields are marked out with painted lines and the sides were decorated with floral and abstract patterns Another example, dating to the early sixth century, was found in Opferplatz Y/Anlage LXXV of the Kerameikos. It was decorated with lions on the sides.