BERGEN, NORWAY—Live Science reports that a 600-year-old die found along a wooden street lined with inns and pubs in southwestern Norway may have been designed for cheating during gambling. Archaeologists led by Ingrid Rekkavik of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research said this die is different from other medieval dice recovered in Bergen, which usually have the numbers one through six represented on their six sides. This particular die has two fives and two fours—the extra five and four replace numbers one and two on two sides. It is possible the die was used to play a special game, but the researchers speculate the die was tossed into the street by a cheater trying to avoid getting caught, or by an angry opponent. For more on dice in the archaeological record, go to “No Dice Left Unturned.”
