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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;rrdenarius, post: 4492641, member: 75525&quot;]Knucklebones or Astragalus are / were bones from small animals like pigs, sheet, goats, etc. they were used for children&#039;s games, adult games of chance, divinations and who knows what. Many of the bone Astragalus had lead added for weight. I have bronze, lead &amp; silver (see my avitar) examples.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1114660[/ATTACH] </p><p>One of my favorites is in the British Museum.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1114661[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1114662[/ATTACH] </p><p>Cast bronze coins often have them.</p><p>[ATTACH]1114663[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1114664[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1114667[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1114668[/ATTACH] </p><p>They have six sides if you count the ends. You can see 4 sides in the pics above. Note the Pb in some of the bone examples. I suspect games did not include the small rounded ends. If the playing surface was sand, there would be a small chance of an end landing.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1114669[/ATTACH] </p><p>The coin shown above has a girl playing with Astragalus.</p><p>Cilicia, TARSOS (389-375 BC) AR Obol (9.4 mm. - 0.63 gr.). D. \: Female kneeling left, astralagoi tossing. R. \: Male head right. SNG France 239[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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