There are also a lot of old boards found by archaeologists which are assumed to be game boards but might have instead (or also) been counting boards (abacuses)

There are also a lot of old boards found by archaeologists which are assumed to be game boards but might have instead (or also) been counting boards (abacuses) used for performing calculations. I’m fairly convinced (though I’m not an expert and it’s hard to be sure about ancient artifacts without documentary corroboration) that backgammon, mancala, and chess boards were originally used as calculation tools. Maybe senet too.