In the summer of 2020, during a brief pause from COVID-19 restrictions, archaeologist Walter Crist explored the Het Romeins Museum in Heerlen, Netherlands. While examining artifacts from the Roman town of Coriovallum, he stumbled upon an intriguing piece.
Displayed was a chunk of white Jurassic limestone, approximately eight inches wide, labeled as a probable board game. However, Crist, a specialist in ancient games, recognized that its design was unlike any he had encountered before. The carved lines formed a unique oblong octagon within a rectangle, deviating from known Roman gaming structures.
"When I first saw the stone, I was skeptical as the pattern didn't resemble any previously documented game," Crist recounted.
This initial skepticism sparked a high-tech investigation that merged microscopic wear analysis with artificial intelligence, ultimately uncovering a lost aspect of Roman culture. Findings published in the journal Antiquity indicated that the stone was part of a "blocking game," akin to tic-tac-toe, where players aim to obstruct each other's moves.
The Unfitting Stone
The artifact, designated as object 04433, is a substantial piece of Norroy limestone, a material typically imported by Romans for constructing grand edifices. This particular stone, however, was small and repurposed from rubble, showcasing a crude grid pattern.
It remained in the museum's collection for years, unearthed in the late 19th or early 20th century, but lacking a scientific excavation context, its origin was unclear. Was it merely a mason's practice piece or a forgotten game?
Scrutiny of the stone's microscopic surface revealed the answer. "The geometric pattern and deliberate shaping led us to identify it as a game," Crist explained.
When game pieces are maneuvered across a board, they leave behind trails. Over time, interactions between glass or stone pieces and the limestone surface create smooth areas known as "homogeneous zones." Crist and his team identified such localized wear on the stone.
"The surface exhibited damage consistent with the abrasion from sliding game pieces," Crist noted.
The scratches concentrated along specific lines, particularly one diagonal, which provided the key for AI to reconstruct the game's rules.
Forensic Gaming with AI
To determine which game could produce those distinctive scratch marks, researchers utilized the Digital Ludeme Project and its AI system, Ludii.
The team programmed AI agents to engage in numerous game variations on a digital representation of the Heerlen board. They examined rulesets from traditional European games that corresponded to the board's compact size, particularly alignment and blocking games.
After extensive simulations, the AI played thousands of rounds, employing advanced techniques to emulate skilled human players. The objective was to identify which rules would statistically recreate the wear patterns observed on the actual artifact.
Through this rigorous process, the data indicated a clear outcome: the wear was indicative of a blocking game, not a racing or alignment game.
The Rules of Ludus Coriovalli
The reconstructed game, now named Ludus Coriovalli, is an asymmetric contest of strategy where one player controls four "dogs" and the other two "hares." The gameplay involves:
- Dogs starting on the four leftmost points, while hares begin on the two inner rightmost spots.
- Players alternately moving their pieces to adjacent empty spots along the lines.
- The dogs attempting to block the hares, who strive to evade capture for as long as possible. The player whose hares survive the longest emerges victorious.
A Missing Link in the History of Play
Previously, historians believed that blocking games emerged in Europe only during the Middle Ages, with references to Viking games like Haretavl. This research indicates that such games were played in Roman times, extending their history in Europe by several centuries.
These discoveries fill a significant void in the archaeological record. While Romans were renowned for games like Latrunculi and Duodecim Scripta, Ludus Coriovalli suggests a tradition of "hunt" games existed alongside them, likely played on perishable materials.
This study showcases a new archaeological methodology, employing AI not just for data analysis but also to simulate human behavior in interpreting physical artifacts.
As for the Romans of Coriovallum, their leisure activities become more tangible, allowing us to envision them engaged in strategic gameplay, maneuvering glass pieces across limestone, and outsmarting each other.
"Understanding the enjoyment of ancient games," Crist remarked, "offers fresh insights into how people in the past cherished their lives." Ultimately, whether on a limestone slab or a digital screen, the joy of play remains timeless.