Ancient Dice Uncovered: Native American Games of Chance Predate Global Records by Millennia
A new study proposes the identification of the oldest known dice, with artifacts dating back over 12,000 years. These objects, used by Native American hunter-gatherers near the end of the last ice age, predate previously recognized dice-like objects by thousands of years and suggest an earlier development of games of chance in North America.
Groundbreaking Research Findings
The study, published in the journal American Antiquity, suggests these ancient artifacts functioned similarly to a coin, generating randomized binary outcomes in games of chance. Anthropologist Robert Madden, a PhD student at Colorado State University and lead author of the study, noted that these objects differed from modern cubes.
They were two-sided, typically made of wood or bone, and featured distinct markings, paints, or pigments on each face. Their surfaces were flat or slightly curved, and their size and shape allowed players to hold and throw several at once.
Madden developed a four-feature test to classify artifacts as dice:
- Objects were two-sided and composed of wood or bone.
- Each side exhibited clear distinctions, often through paints, pigments, or markings.
- Surfaces were either flat or slightly curved.
- Their size and shape allowed players to hold and throw multiple pieces simultaneously.
Through this analysis, 565 objects were identified as "diagnostic" prehistoric Native American dice, with an additional 94 classified as "probable" dice. These artifacts were recovered from 57 different archaeological sites across North America. The oldest diagnostic dice are associated with the Folsom culture, dating back approximately 12,200 to 12,800 years ago. One probable die may be linked to the Clovis people, potentially being as old as 13,000 years.
Rewriting the History of Games and Probability
Historians have traditionally associated the invention of dice and probability with the Old World. However, this research suggests that ancient Native American groups developed objects for random outcomes in structured games at an earlier period. The next-oldest examples of objects functioning as dice outside the Americas are approximately 5,500 years old, found in Asia and the Middle East.
The findings propose a potential extension of the known timeline for the development of dice and related mathematical understanding.
The invention of dice and games of chance is often considered an early development in humanity's understanding of randomness and probability by historians of mathematics.
While the study acknowledges the possibility that the artifacts could have been used for other purposes, such as divination, it suggests that the evidence supporting their use in gaming is more robust. The research indicates that dice, games of chance, and gambling have been a consistent element of Native American culture for at least the last 12,000 years, contributing to social integration.