Overview
- The peer-reviewed paper in American Antiquity, published on April 2, reports that Native American hunter-gatherers used dice more than 12,000 years ago.
- The earliest pieces come from Folsom-period sites in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico dating to about 12,800–12,200 years ago, which predates Old World dice by over 6,000 years.
- The study defines two-sided “binary lots,” small shaped pieces with marked faces that were tossed like coins to yield clear two-outcome results.
- Using an attribute-based checklist drawn from Stewart Culin’s 1907 ethnography, the author reclassified more than 600 objects across museum and site records from dozens of locations over many periods.
- The reanalysis points to wide and persistent use for gambling and social exchange, while outside experts call for tighter context and direct dating, and the author urges targeted radiocarbon tests and new fieldwork.