Ancient Dice Discovery Pushes Back Gambling History by 6,000 Years
Humans Have Been Playing With Dice for Longer Than We Thought
Hindustan Times
Image: Hindustan Times
New research reveals that humans used dice for gambling as far back as 12,800 years ago, significantly earlier than the previously recognized Bronze Age origins. This finding, which shifts the timeline and location of early dice use to North America, highlights the social functions of gambling in prehistoric societies.
- 01Dice use dates back over 12,000 years, much earlier than the previous estimate of 5,500 years.
- 02The earliest known dice were found in North America, specifically in New Mexico, Wyoming, and Arizona.
- 03The study reclassified over 500 prehistoric artifacts as dice using a new checklist developed by the researcher.
- 04Gambling in prehistoric times likely involved betting valuable items rather than money.
- 05Dice games facilitated social interactions among hunter-gatherer communities.
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A recent study published in the journal *American Antiquity* suggests that humans have been using dice for gambling for over 12,000 years, pushing the timeline back by 6,000 years from the previously accepted origins in the Bronze Age. Robert Madden, an archaeologist at Colorado State University, examined artifacts from North America, including those from New Mexico, Wyoming, and Arizona, dating back to the last Ice Age. His research involved re-evaluating nearly 300 historic Native American dice and led to the classification of more than 500 artifacts as dice based on a newly developed checklist. The earliest dice were typically two-sided, made from wood or bone, with one side blank and the other marked. Madden suggests that the hunter-gatherers who used these dice likely gambled with valuable items like rare stones, fostering social connections and interactions among groups. This finding sheds light on the social role of gambling in prehistoric cultures, emphasizing its importance in building relationships and exchanging ideas.
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