Dice and games of chance are believed to have first appeared in the Old World roughly 6,000 years ago. In reality, they may have been invented far earlier, by the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
A study published in American Antiquity claims to have identified hundreds of bone dice from various Native North American cultures. The oldest are dated to between 12,200 and 12,800 years ago, toward the end of the Ice Age, while others come from the period of the arrival of European colonizers.
Most of the objects examined had been sitting in museums, including those of the Smithsonian Institution, but had until now been identified only as “game pieces” or had not been subjected to careful analysis. To determine whether they were dice or not, the study drew on a list of characteristics compiled from 293 known dice from later periods, which had been described in 1907 by ethnographer Stewart Culin in his monograph Games of the North American Indians.
More than 600 objects were found to meet the criteria. Unlike today’s cubic dice, these ancient counterparts were flat with two sides. One face bore markings, colors, or other visual indicators and was the side that “counted” in the game. The dice were thrown in groups, and the score was tallied based on how many landed with the “good” side facing up.
The study suggests these games were played in groups, more often by women, a tradition that continues to this day in some indigenous communities. In a press release, Colorado State University, where the analysis was conducted, pointed to a YouTube video showing Navajo boys and girls playing while seated in a circle.
Historians of mathematics consider dice to be humanity’s earliest engagement with randomness, a forerunner of probability theory, statistics, and ultimately scientific thinking.
