Some spodomantic rituals require the use of a certain writing surface. Most of the rituals outlined above indicate the use of the hearth, floor, or exterior ground as the place to spread ashes. But some examples of spodomancy call for the use of other types of surfaces. Consider the use of bone: Divination techniques closely related to spodomancy include osteomancy (divination using bones, particularly that practice which heats them to produce cracks which are portentious), plastromancy (divination using turtle plastrons), scapulimancy (divination using the shoulder blade; the Scottish term is slinneanachd), and sternomancy (divination using the sternum). However, in these practices, fire is used to cause cracks to appear in the bone. Ash may or may not be used to fill in these cracks, making them more visible. This is not spodomancy, however, as the cracks (not the ash itself) are being read. In Mongolia, however, a divinatory ritual exists in which scapulimancy and spodomancy are combined: A smooth layer of ashes is spread on the shoulder blade of a cow, sheep, or ox, and a lama is divinely inspired to make calculations in the ash which indicate answers to questions or the future. Bone is not the only alternative surface used. Some ancient Greek rituals of spodomancy required that the ashes be spread on a plank of wood rather than the floor.