- CA EPSAM 0084.19.1-6
- Item
- unknown
Part of Artifact Collection
Items are used in a children's game called dibstones. These "dibs" are made from clay.
The term is derived from an old children's game called "dib- stones." Dibstones, or dibs for short, has had many different incarnations over the years, some of which date back to the 17th century. In most versions it closely resembled the game of jacks, often involving tossing up small objects and catching them on the backs of the hands. Other forms of dib- stones were similar to what we generally consider to be the game of marbles.
We do know that, in whatever form it took, dibstones almost always centered on the manipulation of small objects, themselves called "dibstones" or "dibs." These dibs could be anything from pebbles to the small knucklebones of a sheep. It is likely that manipulating dibs in a particular way entitled a player to certain privileges according to the rules of the game.
