Native Americans Invented Dice, Probability 12K Years Ago
Getty Images/Muhammad Labib Adilah
A new chapter in the history of gambling may trace its origins to ancient North America. Research published in American Antiquity indicates that Native Americans in the region now known as the US Southwest were using dice and exploring the concepts of chance and probability around 12,000 years ago—roughly 6,000 years before similar practices appeared in Europe, Africa, or Asia.
Robert Madden, a 62-year-old former trial lawyer pursuing a PhD in archaeology at Colorado State University, did not discover new artifacts. Instead, he reviewed decades of excavation records, applying consistent standards to identify what qualifies as dice.
Madden identified two-sided, carefully shaped bone and wooden pieces at Folsom culture sites in Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, linking them through an unbroken line to contemporary Native communities. According to Madden, the dice are “simple, elegant tools” designed intentionally to produce random results, rather than being incidental byproducts of bone crafting.
Historical accounts and oral traditions describe gambling as both socially and spiritually significant, with some stories even featuring deities participating in games. Madden suggests that prehistoric Native Americans may have been the first to engage systematically with principles like the law of large numbers. “This represents an intellectual achievement,” he told NBC.
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