Sir John Marshall continues describing the game pieces found at Mohenjo-daro (Mohenjo-daro, pp. 557-59):

"The poorer people used gamesmen made of pieces of potsherd roughly rubbed into a suitable shape. The board on which these pieces were used was probably roughly marked on the ground, either in the form of squares or small holes scooped out in the duA. With such a board and pieces a game could be played almost anywhere, as the materials for it were always to hand.

"We have not yet been fortunate enough to learn for what game these pieces were made. As, however, not more than three gamesmen of identical form and material have as yet been found together, there is reason to think that comparatively few were used, unless, like chess- men, the pieces differed slightly to show their rank. Of this, however, we have no evidence. The boards upon which the pieces were moved were probably of wood and have, therefore, perished. The playing boards that have been found in Egypt and Mesopotamia all have a small number ot squares, on which only a few pieces could have been used. The two very early boards, one of dumb-bell shape and the other square, that have lately been found by Mr. Woolley at Ur, have twenty and twelve squares respectively.

"Gamesmen of this kind are found at all levels, except those of tetrahedral shape which are of very early date. The evidence at present is insufficient for us to say that certain shapes w'ere confined to certain periods."