569. Astragalos

Condition

Intact; covered with iridescence.

Description

Naturalistic miniature representation of a sheep or goat knucklebone, cast in a two-part mold. Along the length of the long sides, traces of the join between the two parts of the mold in which it was cast are visible.

Comments and Comparanda

Astragaloi were used in a much-loved children’s game (astragalismos), played by both boys and girls in ancient Greek and medieval society, that survived down to the twentieth century in Greece as a game called kotsia. At least four or five astragaloi were required for the game. Each side of the astragalos had a specific value, and the players threw their knucklebones in turn, collecting the analogous points. Knucklebones were also used as a way of telling the future.

For the game, see Deonna et al. 1938, pp. 332–333; Robinson 1941, pp. 502–504; Broneer 1947, p. 241, plate LXI:20; Davidson 1952, p. 222. Glass astragaloi appear probably in the second century BCE, but most finds are dated between the first century BCE and the first century CE, equally present in the eastern and the western parts of the Roman Empire (Stern and Schlick-Nolte 1994, pp. 338–339, no. 104; Spaer 2001, p. 232; Bianchi et al. 2002, pp. 288–289, no. GR-12a–c; Adam-Veleni and Ignatiadou 2010, pp. 209, 359, nos. 65, 392; Antonaras 2019, no. 417).

Provenance

1979, Nicolas Koutoulakis, 1910–1996 (Geneva, Switzerland), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979

Bibliography

Neils and Oakley 2003, p. 279, no. 90.

Kugler 2004, p. 10.

Exhibitions

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past (Hanover, 2003; New York, 2004; Cincinnati, 2004; Los Angeles, 2004)