Terracotta counters / tokens / calculi
1.5€ la terre cuite simple et 2.5€ la terre cuite émaillée
These objects were very common throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
They were used for games, for accounting and for any other activity requiring counters.
“Calculi” is the Roman name: it is the literal Latin for “pebbles”.
It gave French both arithmetical “calcul” (calculation) and renal “calcul” (kidney stone).
The models shown here are in plain or glazed terracotta. The motif is that of a Carolingian lead brooch.
Diameter 20 to 25 mm, thickness 5 to 8 mm
- Materials
- Terre cuite
- Periods
- Antiquity, Merovingians and Carolingians, Middle Ages, Vikings, 12th-13th centuries (Crusades), Hundred Years' War and 15th century, Renaissance, 17th century, 18th century, French Revolution, Modern era