The history of dice, especially in regards to planning or divining events, is a long and intriguing one, going back thousands of years. Dice naturally were used in gaming, but also used to settle affairs of state and the heart. Since dice were prominently used by witch doctors and other similar mystics, they were considered magical devices.
The earliest known writings (religious writings) that mention dice were from the Egyptians. The Greeks also heavily mentioned and used dice in their society. Early dice consisted of animal anklebones (astragals - Greek), often times sheep knuckles. They were also make of precious stones, such as agate, amber, jet, onyx, rock crystal and even porcelain, silver, and ivory. Specimens have been found in American prehistoric Indian mounds, including the fossilized knucklebone of a llama. There is also a strong linguistic correlation between the Arabic word for knucklebones and the word for dice. The Etruscans (900 B.C.) seem to be the first to construct their dice in the form we are most familiar with today. Dice from this period have also been found in Britain in the prehistoric earthworks of Maiden Castle.
With the decline of Rome and the subsequent period of the Dark Ages, games using dice were not much in evidence. However, the Middle Ages saw a resurgence in dicing despite the condemnation of the church. The dice makers' guilds had strict laws forbidding the manufacture of loaded or fraudulent dice. This did not stop sharpers and thieves from using them.
Wikipedia has a nice, in-depth description of the various types of dice, the history, and unique images for those of you who want to delve deeply into the delicious world of dice.
References:
The main source of most of the history of dice articles you read on the web is John Scarne's “Scarne on Dice” originally written in 1943, and reprinted in 1975. While Mr. Scarne was not famous for being a historian, he was honest enough to cite his sources when he wrote his history of dice and craps. If you follow Scarne's trail back to his original source you will find Stewart Culin (1858-1929), curator of Ethnology at the Institute of Arts and Sciences of the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Mr. Culin was one of the first ethnographers of games and spent considerable time and effort describing their origins by traveling the world over.
Stewart Culin, Chess and Playing-Cards in Annual Report of the U.S.National Museum, (Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1896), pp. 665-942
John Scarne, Scarne on Dice, (Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1975), pp. 22-30
