Hand-Carved Bone Dice - Pair

One pair of dice, hand-carved from bone, in a glass vial.

These hand-carved dice, artisan crafted from the bones of water buffalo, represent a harmonious blend of material science, history, and culture.

Water buffalo, central to societies worldwide, are celebrated for their strength and symbolic significance. Their bones, primarily composed of hydroxyapatite—a calcium phosphate mineral—and a collagen matrix, are exceptionally suited for carving. This unique chemistry provides the strength and resilience necessary for precise etching and long lasting durability, making bone a natural choice for crafting dice as well as an ethical alternative to ivory.

Dice themselves are a symbol of human ingenuity, their origins dating back to before recorded history. The oldest known examples, uncovered at the Burnt City (Shahr-e Sukhteh), an archaeological site in southeastern Iran, from the period 2800–2500 BCE, where they served not only as gaming tools but also as objects of cultural and social connection.

These dice are crafted from bones of animals that died naturally, offering an ethical and sustainable use of natural materials.