They are the most precisely-dated chessmen from the first five or six centuries of the game's existence, and they are very unusual pieces. Unlike most extant chessmen of the period, they are simple and carry no apparent decoration. Just as the Ser e Limani ship probably represents a simple, average working vessel of its time, the Glass Wreck chess pieces are perhaps more truly representative of 11th-century chessmen than any other existing pieces. The cube-shaped bronze piece has a series of small holes, similar to pips on dice, on each of its six faces. These small holes vary from a maximum of fourteen on one face to a minimum of five on another.
Larger indentations are present on four of the six faces.
The cube was found inside the remnants of a wood casing which appeared to have been just large enough to accommodate the cube itself. The cube weighs approximately 42.6 grams. The dice-like appearance of the bronze cube and its location in the stern area of the wreck, near one of the chess pieces, made the original grouping with the gaming pieces a reasonable one. However, the pip pattern on the cube does not bear any resemblance to those on dice used in any game during the period of history. Other objects found in close association support the more likely identification of the cube as a weight.