AI agents play Roman board game and thus determine its rules
A few years ago, an archaeologist discovered a round stone that likely once served as a game board. Thanks to AI, rules of the game have now been reconstructed.
The "Ludus Coriovalli"
(Image: Universiteit Leiden)
A research group has used AI to reconstruct the rules for a previously unknown Roman board game played on a round stone. This was achieved based on wear marks, explains Leiden University, where the analysis was led. According to the university, these marks best fit a so-called blocking game, where the objective is to prevent the opponent from moving. The oldest of these games were previously known from the Middle Ages, making this discovery particularly valuable. It now provides evidence that such blocking games were played centuries earlier than previously known.
Game can be played online
(Image:Â Universiteit Leiden)
The game stone was discovered by archaeologist Walter Crist in a museum within the Roman baths of the Dutch city of Heerlen (where the Roman settlement “Coriovallum” once lay). This was only six years ago, explains the university. Crist is an expert in ancient games and was immediately fascinated: “The appearance of the stone and the visible wear marks strongly suggested a game, but the pattern was unfamiliar to me from other games,” his university quotes him as saying. Photos of the stone show a 21 × 14.5 centimeter rectangle with two parallel lines along the longer edges, four diagonal lines at the corners, and a straight line running through the middle. It was likely played with small round stones, which were placed alongside for some photos.
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Microscopic examinations and detailed 3D scans have made it clear that the stone was more worn around the lines, “exactly where the game pieces would be moved along.” At the same time, other marks indicate that the stone was finished. It was therefore manufactured 1500 to 1700 years ago. However, its exact purpose could only be determined with the help of AI. For this, the research group had two AI agents play against each other to determine the rules. The starting point was the rules of much younger games. The results and the rules are presented in an article that will appear in the journal Antiquity but is not yet available online. On a project page, you can already play the game “Ludus Coriovalli.”
(mho)
