Fresh Archaeological Discovery Reveals Americans Have Gambled Since the Ice Age

(AsiaGameHub) –   A recent archaeological discovery indicates that Native Americans participated in games of chance as early as the Ice Age, approximately 12,000 years in the past. This positions them as the earliest known people to take part in such pursuits.

The research was released in the publication American Antiquity. Robert Madden, an archaeologist from Colorado State University, examined archived records of Native American artifacts to identify the most ancient dice in the nation. His focus was on items scholars believed were connected to gaming or dice.

“The results suggest that dice, games of chance, and gambling have been a persistent feature of Native American culture for the last 12,000 years, with the earliest dice appearing in Late Pleistocene Folsom deposits in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico,” wrote Madden.

Were Americans First Humans To Gamble?

While Colorado still discusses the definitions of skill-based and chance-based games, the proof implies North Americans were wagering long before other populations.

Earlier studies uncovered evidence of artifacts like dice and lottery-style games dating from roughly 5000 to 6000 years ago. This seems to be a widespread human practice, with analogous finds in ancient Egypt, China, ancient Greece, and Rome.

For his quest to find the earliest dice, Madden applied specific standards. First, Native American ‚dice‘ were two-sided. Also, the artifacts needed to be marked on at least one face and small enough to hold in a hand. They also could not possess holes, as that might suggest use as adornment.

Madden identified 565 objects fitting these parameters and concluded at least 94 were probable gaming pieces. These items came from 57 archaeological locations spread over 12 states, all within the Great Plains and western U.S.

The majority were from 2,000 to 450 years old, but a minimum of 31 were from 8,000 to 2,000 years ago, and at least 14 originated as far back as 12,000 years ago.

Native Americans and Gambling

Madden further stated that “the findings presented here place prehistoric Native American groups at the forefront of the invention of dice, games of chance, and gambling.”

Researchers had earlier noted more contemporary two-sided objects with distinct ‚heads‘ and ‚tails‘ sides, similar to coins used in modern betting games.

Upon reaching the continent, early European colonists witnessed Native Americans partaking in these games. According to Madden, the events “were often raucous affairs with huge groups of people around.”

In more modern times, tribal gaming saw a resurgence in the U.S. about five decades ago. The Seminole Tribe of Florida launched the first high-stakes bingo hall in 1979. The tribe maintains sole gambling rights in Florida, where other unauthorized gaming operations face legal action.

A 1987 Supreme Court win for the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in California prompted the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988.

Tribes in California keep upholding their authority to provide the only legal gambling in the state. They are at the forefront of opposition to prediction markets, claiming they violate their gaming agreements.

Although critics of tribal exclusivity contend an open market would generate increased employment, tax income, and drive innovation, the new find reveals the connection between Native Americans and gambling could be much more ancient than earlier understood.