tessera lusoria

MAC GIR-002638

Object type tessera lusoria

Culture/period

Materials bone

Technique polishing

Mint

Production date -200 / -1

Seu Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Girona

Current location MASPG

Archaeological site Empúries

Township Escala, l' (Alt Empordà)

Dimensions 55 x 10 x 6 mm

Description

Roman game token from Empúries (l'Escala, Alt Empordà) dated in the 2nd-1st centuries BC. It is a bone plate about 5.5 cm long, 1 cm wide and 0.5 thick. On one side is the number XXI and the other the adjective AVDAX (audacious). At one end is a hole that allowed it to be tied to other similar pieces. At present, the various researchers who have studied the “tesserae lusoriae” agree mostly that they were game tokens, but they do not agree on what game it was, of the many that are known from Roman times based on written sources and archaeological finds.

Omeka ID 3169