Home›Open Questions›Does the shared use of the sheep astragalus for divination in the steppe and in the Greek and Roman world reflect contact, or independent invention?Open QuestionsDoes the shared use of the sheep astragalus for divination in the steppe and in the Greek and Roman world reflect contact, or independent invention?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Does the shared use of the sheep astragalus for divination in the steppe and in the Greek and Roman world reflect contact, or independent invention?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/does-the-shared-use-of-the-sheep-astragalus-for-divination-in-the-steppe-and-in-the-greek-and-roman-world-reflect-contact-or-independent-invention.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Does the shared use of the sheep astragalus for divination in the steppe and in the Greek and Roman world reflect contact, or independent invention?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/does-the-shared-use-of-the-sheep-astragalus-for-divination-in-the-steppe-and-in-the-greek-and-roman-world-reflect-contact-or-independent-inventionCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-does-the-shared-use-of-the-sheep-astraga, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Does the shared use of the sheep astragalus for divination in the steppe and in the Greek and Roman world reflect contact, or independent invention?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/does-the-shared-use-of-the-sheep-astragalus-for-divination-in-the-steppe-and-in-the-greek-and-roman-world-reflect-contact-or-independent-invention}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe correspondence is exact rather than approximate: the same bone, the same four landing faces, cast in the same small numbers, read for answers and played with for entertainment in both regions. It is also exactly what one would expect to arise independently anywhere sheep are kept, since the bone is nearly cubical, resists rolling and is produced free in quantity. The objects themselves cannot distinguish the two explanations.What would resolve this Comparative work at the level of the cultural layer rather than the object: which faces are assigned which values, what combinations are named, and how the reading is structured. Those choices are cultural and could carry a transmission signal that the anatomy cannot. Dated archaeological assemblages showing marked or modified bones along a plausible corridor would also bear on it.OpenComparative archaeology of divination, and Eurasian material culture studiesDivinity Atlas Open Questions Register, First EditionCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnShagai, Sacred Objects & Ritual Items Well-attested Source Divinity Atlas Open Questions Register, First Editiontier 1SourcesDivinity Atlas Open Questions Register, First Editiontier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year