Which side would be facing up after a toss, or a series of tosses, was as much a gamble to our ancestors as it is to us today. These bones -later called astragali by the Greeks- were chosen because they are roughly cube-shaped, with two rounded sides that couldn’t be landed on, and four flat ones that could. ![]() But the direct precursors of today’s dice were bone: the ankle bones of hoofed animals, such as sheep and oxen. ![]() The oldest known dice -dating back at least 8,000 years- consisted of found objects such as fruit pits, pebbles, and seashells. The next time you find yourself rolling a pair of dice, know that you’re tapping into something primordial- keeping alive an ancient tradition that began long before recorded history.Īrchaeologists can’t pinpoint the first human who threw dice, but they do know this: Unlike many customs that started in one place and then spread, dice-throwing appeared independently all across the populated world. The following is reprinted from the book Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader.
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