27 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Yale Archaeologist discovered an “arcade” of rock-cut ancient mancala game boards in Kenya

Veronica Waweru, a Yale University archaeologist conducting fieldwork in Kenya, discovered an “arcade” of ancient Mancala game boards carved into rocks.

Mancala stems from the Arabic word Naqala which means “to move.” In the game Mancala, users “sow” and “capture” seeds. According to historians, mancala may have been used as a divination tool, a harvesting ritual, or a record-keeping method at the beginning of civilization.

Examples of this game have been found in Egyptian ruins dated from 1400 B.C.E. — carved into the temple roofs of Memphis, Thebes and Luxor. Even though the Mancala game dates back thousands of years, it is still widely played in the Middle East and Africa today. As per the Savannah African Art Museum, the earliest known mancala board was discovered at the Neolithic site of ʿAin Ghazal in Jordan and dates back to approximately 5870 ± 240 BC.

The recent discovery was made after a tip-off about tourists removing prehistoric hand axes from a site within a private wildlife conservation area.

After receiving the tip-off, Waweru exchanged emails with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the organization that manages the nature reserve, about the handaxe site, which was previously known but never excavated or dated, and found her first opportunity to visit the conservancy.

Waweru further investigated and discovered a “arcade” of ancient mancala game boards carved directly into a rock ledge.

The road to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Source

Waweru noticed a series of shallow pits drilled into a rock ledge. A few of the pits were now pockmarks due to erosion. Others were sufficiently deep to support a handful of stones with ease. The pits’ differing degrees of erosion provided evidence that they were created at various points in time. This discovery led Waweru to theorize that ancient people used them to play a form of the game Mancala.

Waweru said: “It’s a valley full of these game boards like an ancient arcade. Given the erosion of some of the boards, I believe that people were playing games there a very long time ago.”

In all, the Kenya site includes about 20 of these Mancala boards. Some of the more recent examples are superimposed on their earlier counterparts.

Also, the site contains 19 burial cairns built by herding communities that inhabited the region 5,000 years ago. The archaeologist thinks the two somehow may be connected in some way, given that the game boards share the site with 19 burial cairns.

The precise age of the game boards is difficult to determine, she said, as they are carved into 400-million-year-old rock. DNA analysis of material found in the burial mounds could indicate how people interred in them relate to modern people, Waweru said.

Waweru and her research team have applied for funding to continue studying the site, which is located near the equator in Kenya’s central highlands on the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Lebanon in the Middle East to Mozambique in Southeast Africa.

Cover Photo: Veronica Waweru

Related Articles

Archaeologists discovered medieval Bury St Edmunds Abbey ‘Bishop Boy’ token in Norfolk

19 December 2023

19 December 2023

Archaeologists have discovered token in Norfolk in the East of England, dating from between 1470 and 1560, given to the...

Archaeologists discovered a sunken prehistoric fort in Clew Bay island

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

A sunken prehistoric fort has been discovered on Clew Bay island off the north Mayo coast, Ireland. It has been...

Human blood proteins were found in the red paint on a 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru

27 October 2021

27 October 2021

Traces of human blood have been discovered in the red paint that decorated a gold mask found on the remains...

An 8500-year-old wooden ladder remain was discovered at Çatalhöyük

12 April 2022

12 April 2022

Remains of the wooden ladder were discovered for the first time in Çatalhöyük, one of the best-preserved Neolithic settlements in...

Lost Phrygian Inscription on Arslan Kaya Monument Deciphered

23 November 2024

23 November 2024

Professor Mark Munn of Pennsylvania State University has deciphered part of the inscription on the legendary Arslan Kaya Monument (also...

This Month in the “You Will See What You Don’t See” Project

11 February 2021

11 February 2021

Izmir Archeology Museum started to exhibit the unseen artifacts in its warehouses last month in the project that started under...

The Largest Circular Tomb of the Ancient World Is Opening

16 February 2021

16 February 2021

The restoration of Augustus’ colossal tomb, which is expected to be opened in 2014, has been completed. The Augustus mausoleum...

2,400-Year-Old Puppets with Dramatic Expressions Uncovered: May Have Played Key Roles in Rituals atop El Salvador’s Pyramid

5 March 2025

5 March 2025

A recent archaeological find in El Salvador has unveiled a captivating glimpse into the rituals of the region’s Indigenous people,...

During roadwork in Oregon, a woolly mammoth tusk was discovered

21 June 2021

21 June 2021

A 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk was discovered beneath the street by crews rerouting a gas line in Corvallis, Oregon. “Whenever...

Archaeologists have found seven pairs of Anglo-Saxon brooches in seven graves during an excavation in Gloucestershire

5 April 2022

5 April 2022

Archaeologists have found seven pairs of Anglo-Saxon saucer brooches, one pair in each of seven burials unearthed in an excavation...

1,800-year-old Bronze military medal with Medusa head found in southeastern Turkey

5 October 2022

5 October 2022

A military medal believed to be almost 1,800 years old has been found by archaeologists in Turkey. The discovery was...

Three Roman Graves Uncovered in Portugal

17 April 2024

17 April 2024

Three burials dating to the 5th or 6th century AD have been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Ossónoba...

The exciting discovery of a 4000-year-old stone box grave in western Norway

10 November 2023

10 November 2023

Archaeologists report an extremely important 4,000-year-old stone box grave has been unearthed in Western Norway, describing it as the most...

Archaeologists Reconstruct the Face of a 7th-Century Anglo-Saxon Woman Buried with “Trumpington Cross”

21 June 2023

21 June 2023

In a remarkable archaeological discovery near Cambridge, England, the face of a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon woman buried with a rare gold...

Military Team Discovers Remarkable 2,000-Year-Old Celtic Artifacts, Including Chariot Parts and Bridle-Bit

4 February 2025

4 February 2025

Military personnel and veterans at RAF Valley in Anglesey on the island of Anglesey, Wales, have uncovered sensational Iron Age...