Archaeologist Robert J. Madden of Colorado State University has identified the world's oldest known dice, created by Native American hunter-gatherers on the western Great Plains over 12,000 years ago. By re-examining artifacts from Late Pleistocene Folsom-period sites in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, Madden discovered that these "binary lots" predate the earliest known Old World dice by more than 6,000 years. These objects are often the only decorated, non-utilitarian items found at these ancient sites, featuring artistic markings that distinguish them from everyday tools.
This discovery challenges the Eurocentric narrative that probability and games of chance were Old World innovations. It suggests that ancient Native American societies possessed a sophisticated understanding of randomness and used gambling as a "social technology" to facilitate interaction and trade between disparate groups. By recognizing these objects as dice rather than miscellaneous artifacts, the study highlights the intellectual depth and early mathematical engagement of indigenous North American cultures at the end of the last Ice Age.