**2. Materials and Methods**

The analyzed objects are listed in Table 1. They were found during the archaeological excavation in different locations of the site: about one-third are sporadic finds or were recovered on the surface, whereas two-thirds belong to specific stratigraphic units. The archaeological information related to the exact location and stratigraphy of the objects is discussed in detail in Paltineri [10]. Summarizing the results: one washer-like piece and one sphere were recovered from the arable layer; two washer-like pieces, one sphere and

**Citation:** Angelini, I.; Bettineschi, C.; Venturino, M.; Artioli, G. Gaming in Pre-Roman Italy: Characterization of Early Ligurian and Etruscan Small Pieces, Including Dice. *Appl. Sci.* **2022**, *12*, 2130. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/app12042130

Academic Editors: Marco Martini and Anna Galli

Received: 2 November 2021 Accepted: 5 February 2022 Published: 18 February 2022

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**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

<sup>1</sup> Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali, Università di Padova, 35139 Padova, Italy; cinzia.bettineschi@unipd.it

five uninscribed dice are from an alluvial deposit (area B, US 2010). Four uninscribed dice were found in a combustion pit together with abundant ceramic sherds, spindles and animal remains (area E, US 1531); one uninscribed dice and one sphere associated to dice with irregular numbers or signs (Figure 1d) were found in the two filling layers (US 1649 and US 1549) of the same combustion pit. In the same area (area E) other pieces were recovered: an uninscribed dice from a filling layer (US 2122) of a second pit containing ceramic fragments; and an uninscribed dice and a washer-like piece from a dumping (US 1505) possibly related to a production zone. The dumping material also yields spindles, large terracotta rings, numerous ceramic sherds, fragments of grindstones, and furnace remains. A different area of the site (area F) yielded three washer-like pieces from an ancient layer of the settlement (US 1501); a fired surface probably used for food preparation (US 1514) and a fired clay area with unknown function (US 1571) [10]. Even if there are no systematic association patterns between the different types of objects, at least in one case uninscribed dice are in a secure connection with sphere and washer-like pieces.

Based on the ceramic types associated with the finds the proposed date for the uninscribed dice is VI century BC; a washer-like piece and another uninscribed dice are dated to the end of the VI-beginning of the V century BC, and another washer-like piece is dated to the first half of the V century BC. However, the occurrence and distribution of the objects indicate that they were in use during the whole life span of the site, that is between the early VI century BC till the first half of the V century BC [10]. The small objects of interest are mostly composed of fired ceramics, except one dice made out of bone, and they can be described by three principal shapes: (1) cylindrical washer-like discs, (2) small spheres, and (3) cubic dice (Figure 1).

All samples were initially weighed and dimensionally measured with a caliper. The results are reported in Table 1. In the case of irregular shapes, the minimum and maximum dimensions are listed.

Two coeval dice reported from the nearby site of Castello di Annone [12] are also listed in Table 1, they were included because they bear similarities with the Villa del Foro materials and because one of the two dice has specific Etruscan letters. No analytical data are available for these samples, except for the stereomicroscopy investigation of the surfaces. They are made of ceramics as well. One of the two dice is unmarked, whereas the other bears Etruscan letters on two sides, and a variable number of small incised dots (9–12–17–22) randomly distributed on the faces (Figure 2), plus several linear marks on the edges.

Based on macroscopic observations, the major differences between objects are (1) the overall size, (2) the presence or absence of finishing pigmentation on the surface, and (3) the presence or absence of incised decorations and/or inscriptions.

All samples were further characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Raman spectroscopy, in order to control the composition of the ceramics, the degree of firing, and the composition and application technique of the surface pigments.

The XRPD measurements were made on minute quantities of material using a PANalytical X'Pert Pro goniometer operated in θ-θ Bragg–Brentano geometry and equipped with a Pixcel RTMS detector. Measuring conditions were: Cobalt Kα radiation, 40 kV and 40 mA power, angular range 3–85◦ 2θ, virtual steps of 0.02◦ 2θ. Because of the very small amount of material extracted from the objects, the signal was optimized by using a rotating zero-background sample holder. The diffraction spectra were analyzed using the X'Pert HighScore Plus software 3.0 of PANalytical.

Micro-Raman analyses were performed with a DXR Thermo Scientific instrument, equipped with a 532 nm laser and a 50× LWD (Long Working Distance) objective. The working condition selected for the analyses is acquisition time 3 s, 32 scans, 5 mW and a 25 μm pinhole. The spectra were processed with the Omnic 9 software (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and compared with reference spectra recovered from the online RRUFF database (http://rruff.info) and from our internal database of minerals and pigments.

**Figure 1.** Representative shapes of the investigated objects from Villa del Foro: (**a**) washer-like disc, with indented borders (VF91.157/E1); (**b**) small ceramic sphere with a red colored surface (VFRS111); (**c**) cubic dice with no inscriptions and red-pigmented surface (VF14.SP384D); (**d**) cubic dice with numbers or other signs (VF90.1549/E32). The scale bars are (**a**,**b**) 2 mm, and (**c**,**d**) 4 mm.





**Figure 2.** The dice CDA95-C35-F2 from Castello di Annone with signs, dots and two Etruscan numbers in letters [12]. Scale bar: 4 mm.

Because of the puzzling presence of several cubic dice with no writing marks or numbers, Raman chemical mapping and multispectral optical imaging were also used to image the unmarked surfaces in the attempt to check for eventual phantoms indicating residues of disappeared, degraded, or canceled signs. Surprisingly, no evidence whatsoever was found of labile or disappeared inscriptions, therefore supporting the pristine unmarked state of several of the cubic dice.
