A series of Native American data discovered at archaeological sites in the western US.
New research has revealed that Native North American people invented dice and gambling thousands of years ago.
O first casino in the world was created by indigenous people in the western United States more than 12,000 years ago, offering archaeologists the oldest evidence of the gambling world and possibly the oldest use of probability.
The conclusion is from a study this Thursday in Antiquitywhich details, even so, that the purpose of these games of chance was very different from modern ones, since the games helped people (especially women) interact with new acquaintances and redistribute goods and wealth.
“There is a long history of dice, gambling, and gambling in Native America. This predates any evidence we have of dice in the Old World by 6,000 years,” the study’s author, Colorado State University, told . Robert Madden.
The archaeologist analyzed more than 600 Native American datasets from 45 prehistoric archaeological sites in the western US, dated between 13,000 and 450 years ago. He found that data was present at Indian sites on both sides of the Rocky Mountains throughout this extensive period.
“This is the first evidence we have of human involvement structured with the concepts of chance and randomness. We’re seeing really complex practices here and an intellectual achievement here,” Madden said.
A good casino
“Data tends to appear in liminal spaces where there is a lot of mobility. It may have something to do with the fact that these people are separated and the need to engage with people they don’t see very often,” Madden theorized.
That is, dice games may have been invented as a “social integration technology” or an icebreaker for strangers who wanted to exchange goods, information or partners.
The three oldest pieces of data Madden discovered came from sites in Folsom culture in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, dating back to around 12,900 years ago.
These people were hunter-gatherers known for a distinctive stone tool called the Folsom point.
“The Folsoms liked exotic, beautiful materials,” Madden said, and traveled great distances to obtain stones such as flint and chalcedony. You gambling may have allowed the Folsom people to exchange for the stones they preferred.
While the modern game is often played by one person against the “house”, the indigenous game was more of a personal interaction one-to-one, where the odds tended to be 50/50 over time and where the bets were barter items like a set of furs or semi-precious stones.
Based on historical accounts of indigenous gambling, over 80% of dice games participants were exclusively women.”Indigenous women “may have been at the forefront of trying to use this social technology to create connections between people,” the researcher said.
