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Roman-period six-sided dice are common in archaeological sites across Europe. While some dice approach true cubes, many are visibly non-cubic (i.e., asymmetric/lopsided) and favor certain rolls, especially the numbers 1 and 6. It is unclear if such dice were intentional and distinctive “types” used in specific games or activities, represent “cheaters” dice, or are simply part of a continuum of variation in die shape and configuration. To explore this issue, we examine shape distribution of 28 well-dated Roman-period dice from modern-day Netherlands. Results show that Roman die asymmetry varies in a continuous fashion from true cube to highly parallelepiped, where the long side is over 50% longer than the short side. We then conduct replication experiments to examine how naïve producers configure pips across a range of shapes. Our results show a production bias, where makers place the 6 on the largest die face, not to favor certain rolls, but due to space limitations and/or the order in which they place the pips. Overall, we interpret asymmetrical Roman dice as part of a single but highly variable artifact category, not distinct types. We argue that such extreme variation was acceptable because makers and users understood roll outcomes as the product of fate, rather than chance or probability. Conformity to a true symmetrical cube was not perceived as essential to die function, and asymmetrical forms were tolerated as simply part of the acceptable range in shape variation.

Architecture is a complex cultural trait that lends itself to the analytical methods developed for cultural transmission theory. We analyze a dataset of palace structures that gives insight into horizontal transmission processes between Sudan, Egypt, and the Near East during the Meroitic and Greco-Roman time periods. High similarity between buildings in the same region suggests that building activities required social coordination between builders, as predicted by cultural transmission theory. Similarity in the expression of coating layers and coating thickness both within and across regions also confirms that the iconicity of palaces correlates with the dominance of prestige bias during transmission. Finally, similarity in bricks, mortar, and coating ingredients between buildings in the same region, but significant variation across regions, confirms the prediction that building materials are locally sourced. Results establish a baseline of horizontal transmission for architecture more generally, contrasting traits associated with the outer appearance of buildings, versus those less visible and related to construction design. Additional studies of different regions or with a diachronic perspective may show if hypotheses about the cultural transmission of architecture can be generalized across time and space.

The Game of Cupid is a simple dice-based race game derived from the Game of the Goose in about 1600. Twelve different examples, covering the period to about 1850 and drawn from France, the Low Countries and Britain, are analysed according to distinctive markers that include rules, game board configuration and decorative elements, showing that the evolution of the game can be described by a single tree of descent. The forces governing this evolution are discussed. The results may be of interest to those investigating whether different aspects of a complex cultural trait – such as a board game that has rules, a board and decorative elements – follow separate cultural transmission processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cubic dice were brought by the Romans to the Low Countries, and are found in small numbers at many archaeological sites dating to the last 2000 years. We report on a systematic analysis of 110 well-dated dice from the Netherlands, showing that shape, pip configuration, and pip style changed significantly for bone and antler dice from the Roman to the recent historical period. Dice predating 650 CE are highly variable in all attributes, those dating between 1100 and 1450 are highly standardized, and those post-dating 1450 CE are standardized for some attributes, such as symmetry and configuration, but variable for others, such as material type. There is also a major shift from “sevens” to “primes” and back to “sevens” pip configuration across these temporal windows, and pip style was simplified over time from a dot-ring-ring pattern to simple dots. We compare these trends to a smaller set of well-dated dice from the United Kingdom and speculate on possible reasons for these changes. The information can be used in future studies in the Netherlands to help date sites and/or isolated finds, and more broadly, can be augmented with similar analyses of dice elsewhere in Eurasia to study ancient interaction networks and the cultural transmission of games involving dice play.

Similar artifact function and conformism to social norms are two models commonly proposed to explain why ancient people shared a particular form of material culture. We propose an additional model for explaining such similarity, production bias, which focuses on interactions between raw materials and the production of material culture. By way of modern replication experiments and a survey of ancient examples, we use dice to exemplify production bias and discuss how it can be recognized in the archaeological record. Although there are 15 possible configurations for cubic dice, all of equal function, only three are common in the archaeological record. Replication experiments show that one is the result of production bias, and is differentially produced by novice dice-makers. The other two are the byproduct of conformist cultural transmission processes. A similar result holds for dot patterns, or how dots are placed with respect to one another to represent a particular number.

Some research has suggested the use of mancala games in mathematics education. The immediate concepts associated with playing mancala games have been limited to counting as well as addition and subtraction, so the potential of mancala has remained limited to primary school education. This proposed adaptation of a mancala game allows for teaching elementary concepts of combinatorial game theory, discrete mathematics, and search algorithms. Such topics are commonly--although not exclusively--reserved for university teaching, and the material is designed in such a way that questions can be made either more or less complicated or labor intensive, depending on the needs of the teacher. The purpose of the material is to allow these advanced topics to be taught in the upper grades of high school. This way, mancala provides an early entry to a specialized research field, something for which board games appear uniquely suited.

There are mixed opinions on the suitability of dental calculus for paleodietary reconstruction using stable isotope analysis. We examine δ13C and δ15N values of calculus samples from two regions, central California in the USA and Sai Island in the Sudan. When atomic C/N ratios are less than 12 in calculus, results show positive correlations at both the regional and individual level between stable isotopes of bone collagen and calculus, suggesting these materials track similar dietary behaviors. Correlations are still positive but lower between δ13C values of calculus and bone apatite. Stable isotope ratios of calculus show between 30% and 50% greater variation than bone, are typically enriched in 15N (mean = 2.1‰ higher), and are depleted in 13C relative to bone collagen (mean = 0.8‰ lower) and apatite (mean = 6.4‰ lower). Calculus from multiple teeth was analyzed separately for seven individuals to examine intra-individual variation. Results show that within an individual δ13C varies up to 1.8‰, and δ15N up to 2.1‰, which may explain some of the weak bone-calculus correlations previously reported in the literature. When atomic C/N ratios are greater than 12, calculus correlates more poorly with bone collagen, suggesting these samples should be treated with caution.

Muyaka's poetry as it is known today was first recorded in the 1890s, mainly written down by Mwalimu Sikujua who used Arabic script as well as an adapted Swahili-Arabic writing system to document the language. Sikujua's versatility when using the Arabic script as well as his use of variant spellings suggest a writing practice that embraces rather than avoids orthographic variation. His use of diacritics including the shadda and hamza is particularly noteworthy. Muyaka's poems with their frequent repetitions as well as the writing of the poet's name feature multiple spellings by Sikujua even when applying the adapted Swahili-Arabic script. Sikujua invented solutions that best approach a Swahili pronunciation but he also displays a detailed understanding and creative use of a wide range of Arabic signs and diacritics. The complexities of writing Swahili with Arabic script benefit from Sikujua's creativity. It is this versatility and creativity that has been largely ignored and misinterpreted as merely inconsistent in studies where standardization is considered preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the scientist–practitioner gap in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, emphasizing the lack of attention to small businesses and the need for research that better reflects the broader workforce. Topics include the bias in I-O research, the underrepresentation of workers in nonindustrialized countries, and the limitations of convenience samples from large organizations.

Game-boards carved on monuments offer an intriguing opportunity to track a certain mindset in time and space. In an earlier Antiquity article, the author showed us that mancala boards were carved on the Roman plinths at Palmyra by Arab soldiers. Here he takes us into Sudan, finding new mancala boards on the first-millennium pyramids at Meroe. With adroit detective work, he shows that these too are probably owed to military visitors, this time a group of nineteenth-century Turkish soldiers of the Ottoman empire--perhaps those assigned to help Giuseppe Ferlini to blow up and pillage the tombs. Keywords: Meroe, Ottoman empire, games, mancala, pyramids, Introduction The term mancala refers to a group of games commonly played on a space marked out by two parallel rows of shallow depressions, between which two players move small [...]

Playing mancala-type games was an addictive pastime of antiquity and leaves its archaeological imprint on steps and ledges in the form of rows of little scoops. Here the author examines the traces of the game at Palmyra and shows that the Roman game of the third century (with five holes a side) was superseded when Palmyra's Temple of Baal was refashioned as a fort in the seventh century or later. The new Syrian game, with seven holes a side, was played obsessively by the soldiers of an Arab or Ottoman garrison on the steps and precinct wall of the old temple. Keywords: Levant, Palmyra, third century AD Roman, seventh century AD Arab, Ottoman, board games, mancala, graffiti, Introduction Palmyra is known as a former outpost of the Roman Empire, whose riches were accumulated when it prospered as a caravan city in the Syrian desert on the route [...]