Click here to read Part 1 of Dice of Divination, which looks at the games played with knucklebones. Wait, a game to help the deceased? You read that right. Knucklebones weren’t just for fun. In fact, their links to the spiritual go way back — and range from being objects of divination to amulets of protection and reverence… Continue reading Dice & Divination: Playing with Knucklebones (Part 2)
A lot of gaming pieces featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art are dice. We can’t say for sure that girls used dice in their games, but given what we’ve found already, I’d make a bet that at least some of these cultures allowed girls to utilize dice. Since I am going to be part… Continue reading The History of Dice…as seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Knucklebones — known today as jacks — is one of the oldest games in the world. It’s history stretches back over 5,500 years. Yet it wasn’t just a game. Knucklebones were used in a variety of ways by many cultures, and these uses suggest that games were not only integral to playtime — they were also intimately connected to religion and the afterlife.
