An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s7.t2.2

v1.c11.s7.t2.2

During the early historical period gamesmen were prepared in bone, ivory or terracotta. From the 5th-4th century B.C. they became widespread in the Ganga valley and c. and w. India. They are of uniform yet simple shapes consisting of circular discs, flat at the bottom and on the upper side with a raised boss surrounded by concentric circles in the centre, or are solid cylinders, square or hexagonal tablets. Some have perforations on top for threading. Quite a few are painted or decorated with symbols, and those of stone and ivory are polished. Early ones are known from ATRANJIKHERA, BAHAL, NAGDA, PRAKASH, SARAI MOHANA, TUMAIN, UJJAIN, etc., the last site revealing a continuous occurrence from the 5th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. without any change of form. From the second century B.C. they are largely known from BESNAGAR, BRAHMAGIRI, BROACH, NAGDA, NAGARI, NASIK, NEVASA, TRIPURĪ, etc. Ivory and terracotta ones are respectively known from PRABHAS PATAN and URAIYUR in the 1st century A.D. levels. Terracotta specimens are widespread in the Ganga valley during the early centuries of the Christian era, being reported from CHANDRAKETUGARH , CHIRAND, KUMRAHAR, MASAON, RAJGHAT⁴, etc. Later terracotta specimens, A.D. 300-600, are found at MAHESHWAR, PAUNAR, RAJGHAT⁴ and SALIHUNDAM.