Astragalus bone - Ancient precursor for dice and jacks games - Knucklebone

The astragalus or talus bone, the ankle bone, usually taken from goats or sheep. Used in games of chance and skill since at least 3500 BC.
When tossed in the air, they will land with one of four sides face up, sometimes referred to as Camel, Goat, Horse and Sheep (see photo). Because of the irregularities of each bone, the probabilities of landing on any side are not equal as they are for dice. Games evolved with these differences in mind.
See these two Wikipedia entries for some games th