A lawyer-turned-archaeologist has made a groundbreaking discovery while sifting through dusty excavation reports and old text that challenges conventional history of human gambling.
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The findings, published on Thursday in the journal American Antiquity, reveal that Native Americans engaged in dice and probability games as far back as 12,000 years ago, predating similar activities in the Old World such as Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Research indicates that these early gambling activities, rooted in chance, randomness, and probability, originated in what is now the southwestern United States, not in ancient cultures like Mesopotamia.
“What we observed in North America, beginning 12,000 years ago, is a sophisticated understanding of complex intellectual concepts that weren’t addressed in other regions until millennia later,” said study author Robert Madden, a doctoral student from Colorado State University. “These concepts laid the groundwork for modern scientific and economic thought.”
Mr. Madden, 62, transitioned from a trial lawyer to archaeology. He dedicated three years to analyzing old site reports and establishing a timeline of archaeological research. Previously, no unified standards existed in the field for documenting Native American dice.
“My discovery wasn’t about unearthing new dice,” he clarified. “It was about collating existing information.”
The use of dice by Native Americans has been researched for over a century. Traditionally, these dice are double-sided, crafted from bone or wood, and meticulously shaped to achieve random outcomes, often marked with symbols.
Previous studies traced such artifacts back approximately 2,000 years; however, Madden’s research indicates that dice could date back to the end of the last Ice Age, with finds from the early 20th century among the Folsom culture, which date between 12,255 and 12,845 years ago.
The newly established timeline shows that these dice were continuously used in the southwestern United States.
“We see them appearing throughout this region from 12,000 AD until European contact and continuing into the present,” Madden noted.
Robert Wiener, a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College specializing in gambling and religion in New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, highlighted that gambling is often referenced in Native American oral histories.
“In the Southwest, gambling stories typically suggest a potential for addiction, yet many cultural practices view it as almost sacred, serving as social gatherings,” Wiener stated.
In certain narratives, such as the Zuni mythology, even the gods participate in gambling.
To date, no prehistoric dice have been found in eastern North America. The lack of discovery remains unclear but may stem from preservation issues and perceived biases in the archaeological record.
Madden speculates that prehistoric Native American bands frequently traveled, with games serving as a social tool to foster trade and communication. Written accounts of Native American dice games trace back to the 1600s, suggesting many events occurred in eastern North America, often featuring rapid gameplay between unfamiliar groups.
“These events were typically social and vibrant, drawing large crowds and encouraging many side bets,” he explained.
Despite this, there are no documented accounts of prehistoric dice games, leaving many questions unanswered.
“Were they calculating the odds? It’s uncertain,” Madden confessed.
Nevertheless, his research supports the notion that Native Americans practiced complex counting and likely were the first to explore concepts like the law of large numbers, which illustrates how random samples average out over time.
“What we’re analyzing here is a significant intellectual achievement,” he remarked.
Evidence of early dice predates similar artifacts from Bronze Age civilizations in Africa, Europe, and Asia by approximately 6,000 years.
“This discovery is monumental as it highlights that the intellectual contributions of Native American cultures were often overlooked or suppressed by colonial powers,” Wiener stated.
“Dice games of chance provide an intuitive, direct, and emotional way for individuals to engage with probability challenges,” he added.
Madden’s academic journey began with a focus on archaeology, followed by a 25-year tenure as a trial lawyer. As a partner at Gibbs & Brands in Houston, he specialized in the 2008 financial crisis.
He left his law practice in 2017 to explore the Olmec civilization, an ancient Mesoamerican culture, before enrolling in a master’s program in archaeology, his lifelong passion, in 2022.
Madden’s years spent in legal research, including analyzing “millions of pages of documents,” equipped him with the skills needed to navigate the extensive archaeological records.
“He took the initiative to meticulously review a vast number of reports,” Wiener stated. “Often, it requires an outside perspective to see things in a new light.”
Source: www.nbcnews.com
