The Full History of Board Games ||| Carlomaria Grassi

... a series of 49 small carved painted stones were
found at the 5,000-year-old Başur Höyük burial mound in southeast Turkey. These
are the earliest gaming pieces ever found. Similar pieces have been found in
Syria and Iraq and seem to point to board games originating in the Fertile
Crescent. The Cresecent is compromised of regions around the Nile, Tigris, and
Euphrates River in the Middle East. The same region that invented booze, paper,
breath mints, and calendars, which are also required when planning your game
night! ...  The Full History of Board Games — Medium