UC Davis

Westerwanna are four-sided dice first produced among the Frisii people in the northern Netherlands and Germany during the late Iron Age and Imperial Roman period. We report analyses on a set of 27 Westerwanna and 15 oblong four-sided dice from this region to examine their cultural origin. While some attributes, such as Sevens configuration, conform strongly to patterns in Roman six-sided dice, others, such as pip orientation and layout, more closely resemble Celtic and Free Germania oblong dice. We argue in this article that Westerwanna dice reflect a blending of cultural information from different ancient cultures, resulting in a new form.