Glossary Society, writing and trade
Gaming piece
Also called: draught piece, die-counter, knucklebone
A small counter, die or knucklebone used in board and dice games, found in tombs, houses and sanctuaries.
Gaming pieces are small objects used to play games of chance or skill. In Cyprus they include flat stone, bone or terracotta counters, sometimes called die-counters or draught pieces, and the knucklebones (astragaloi) of sheep and goats, which were thrown like dice or used as counters. They are easy to miss in excavation because many are simply unmodified bones or pebbles.
The pieces are found in houses, in sanctuaries and among burial goods, so games were part of both daily life and funerary custom. Often only the pieces survive, and the board or rules they belonged to are unknown. See all gaming pieces in the catalogue.
Related terms
- Grave goods
Objects placed with the dead at burial, such as pots, tools, weapons, jewellery and food.
- Votive
An object given to a god in fulfilment of a vow or in hope of favour, and left in a sanctuary as the god's property.