The Indus Civilization c10.7

c10.7

Several common games in the Indus valley involved the use of dice, of which both cubical and tabular specimens have been found. The former kind, which are like modern dice although considerably larger, were made of pottery or stone, the best examples being of really excellent workmanship (Pl. K, 6). Each side of these cubical dice has a number pitted on it, the numbers running from one to six, and so arranged that one is opposite two, three opposite four and five opposite six, contrary to the modern method of marking, where the sum of each pair of opposite sides is seven. Some of the pottery examples are considerably worn at the edges, but even so, they must always have been thrown on to something soft, as they are too fragile for rough usage. Sometimes the numbers were inlaid.