EL RASILLO · BARAJAS · CENTURIES I–II CE · RESEARCH

Triple Enclosure Board

The Roman Board Whose Rules Did Not Survive

We know the design of three squares of the board, but we cannot be certain what rules were used.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of Triple Enclosure Board — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.

History and context

A board of three concentric squares has been attributed to the Roman site of El Rasillo, accompanied by bone counters. The motif belongs to a family of boards documented in Roman times and with a long subsequent life.

The resemblance to medieval nine-men's morris allows a playable comparison, not recovering the name or the ancient rules. Until the museum publishes individual fiches and inventories, exact custody remains an attribution to be verified.

Evidence and interpretation

The Roman villa of El Rasillo and Roman triple enclosure boards are documented by heritage and archaeological publications. The piece–inventory–museum association and the exact rules lack an individually located public fiche.

Catalogue facts

Assigned Date: Centuries I–II CE
Assigned Place: Roman Villa of El Rasillo · Barajas, Madrid
Design: Three Concentric Enclosures
Status: Inventory and Roman Rules Pending Verification

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The Same Support Could Hold Several Different Games

The study by the Villafranca de los Barros Museum documents up to eight overlapping layouts on a brick, with erasures and wear indicating they were not made at the same time. Some relate to triple-enclosure boards. It is a useful archaeological comparison for the case attributed to El Rasillo, not an identification of the same object. The authors also acknowledge that the lack of precise context prevents dating each engraving. The form of a board can survive and be reused; therefore, it is not sufficient to secure its chronology or invariant rules.

Research · C. Mena, M. García y M. Bustamante · A Roman-period game board deposited in the Villafranca de los Barros Museum, El Hinojal 9Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

APPROXIMATE LOCATION

El Rasillo · Barajas, MadridApproximate marker of the villa; the individual association of the board remains under investigation.

Sources and references

Open the Official Record of This Piece

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