Ancient Native American Gambling: 12,000-Year-Old ‘Dice’ Redefine History of Games of Chance

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that humans were gambling far earlier than previously believed, with a new study revealing that Native Americans were playing games of chance using early forms of dice as far back as 12,000 years ago. Published in the journal American Antiquity, the research challenges the long-held assumption that dice and probability-based games originated in the Old World.

The study, led by doctoral researcher in archaeology Alexandre Madden, reinterprets artifacts from museum collections as some of the world’s oldest known dice. Previously, the oldest dice were dated to around 5,500 years ago, found in regions like Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. However, Madden’s findings suggest that hunter-gatherer cultures in the western Great Plains region were deliberately crafting objects designed to produce random outcomes thousands of years earlier.

“Historians have traditionally treated dice and probability as Old World innovations,” said Alexandre Madden. “What the archaeological record shows is that ancient Native American groups were deliberately making objects designed to produce random outcomes, and using those outcomes in structured games, thousands of years earlier than previously recognized.”

Madden’s research didn’t rely on newly discovered artifacts. Instead, he analyzed existing museum collections, applying a checklist to identify objects that fit the criteria for dice. These included split animal bones, carved sticks, and asymmetrical pieces with distinct sides designed to land randomly. His analysis revealed over 600 objects that met these criteria, many of which had been overlooked or misclassified by archaeologists for decades.

Unlike modern dice, these ancient tools were not numbered cubes. Instead, they often featured one side marked or flattened, ensuring randomness when thrown. “The study shows that archaeologists had been finding these objects for decades,” Madden explained. “They just hadn’t had a reliable way to recognize them as tools for games of chance.”

The discovery also sheds light on the cultural significance of gambling among Indigenous North American communities. Games of chance were often tied to social gatherings, storytelling, and shared beliefs about luck and fate. For ancient Native Americans, these games served as structured spaces for interaction, alliance-building, and managing uncertainty.

“Games of chance and gambling created neutral, rule-governed spaces for ancient Native Americans,” Madden noted. “They allowed people from different groups to interact, exchange goods and information, form alliances, and manage uncertainty. In that sense, they functioned as powerful social technologies.”