Native Americans had dice and games of probability 12,000 years ago, study finds

A paper in American Antiquity reports that archaeologist Robert Madden compiled evidence showing two-sided bone and wooden dice were used in the present-day Southwestern U.S. about 12,000 years ago, earlier than comparable Old World finds.

Researchers report that archaeological reports and older excavation records show Native Americans used two-sided dice and played probability-based games about 12,000 years ago in the present-day Southwestern United States. The analysis was published in American Antiquity and was assembled by Robert Madden, a lawyer-turned-archaeologist who reviewed decades of site reports rather than excavating new material. The earliest dice evidence cited in the study comes from sites associated with the Folsom culture and includes finds dated between about 12,255 and 12,845 years ago. Madden and other scholars note the dice were typically made of bone or wood, shaped to produce random outcomes, and often marked or colored to indicate sides. Key findings: - The study compiles previously reported dice finds from the present-day Southwestern U.S., some tied to Folsom-era sites dated roughly 12,255–12,845 years old. - The dice are described as almost always two-sided and commonly made from bone or wood, with shaping and markings to indicate different sides. - Madden did not excavate new artifacts; he reviewed and applied criteria to existing archaeological reports to build a longer timeline. - The timeline of dice use in the region appears continuous from about 12,000 years ago through European contact. - No prehistoric dice have been documented in eastern North America in the records cited, which researchers say may reflect preservation or recording biases. Summary: The study suggests that concepts of chance and randomness were engaged in parts of North America thousands of years earlier than previously documented in Old World contexts, and it frames those practices as an intellectual achievement within the region's deep history. Undetermined at this time.