There is evidence that implies individuals may have been gambling since the Ice Age and that the cultural phenomenon that gambling represents now may have been embedded in human behavior for thousands of years, according to a recent study published in Scientific American.
The idea of probability dates back 12,000 years.
Even while scientific research has focused on the idea that people have long understood the nature of randomness and that certain events are entirely out of their control, the idea that people have been gambling for thousands of years is particularly shocking.
According to research by archaeologist Robert J. Madden published in American Antiquity, gambling—including games dependent on chance—has been around for at least 12,000 years.
The journal was informed by Dartmouth College archaeologist Robert Weiner that "this is the most exciting study I've seen in North American archaeology in at least the last five years."
Madden was able to arrive at his conclusion after reviewing the archeological community's work over at least 25 years. Through databases of photos acquired from different excavation sites in North America and overseas, the scientist himself discovered some dice with beautifully etched patterns on their sides.
This suggested to Madden that gambling may have persisted and, in particular, been available to native North Americans long before any European pilgrims arrived.
Gambling as a Way to Cope with Events Outside of Humans’ Control
In other words, despite disparities in geography and culture, gambling has been a worldwide phenomenon that emerged thousands of years before individuals discovered the existence of others.
The acceptance of gambling, according to Madden, has a deeper intellectual significance in the evolution of cultures because it essentially shows that societies have realized that not everything is the result of a predictable force, indicating that these early civilizations had a functional understanding of probability.
When you start tossing a coin and documenting the outcome, you are effectively bringing forth randomness. "You can start to detect these patterns emerging, and even more than that, you can harness it," Madden explained.