Ancient Gambling Discovered In Utah

Around 700 years before Las Vegas popped up in the Mojave Desert, people in what is currently Utah were apparently really into gambling, according to ongoing research from archaeologists at the University of Alberta and Brigham Young University, Westerndigs.org reported last month.

A cave on the shore of the Great Salt Lake reportedly has turned up ancient dice and other items used in what we can definitely call gambling that dates back to the 12th century.

Archaeologists call this specific culture the “Promontory” and believe that gambling could have been a staple of their daily life more so than any other group in the western part of prehistoric North America. They believe more than 10,000 gambling artifacts are in the cave.

“The numbers and diversity of gaming artifacts that we see in the Promontory record are unparalleled in western North America,” said Dr. John Ives, an archaeologist who has been researching the Promontory cave complex. “This to me can be seen as the intersection of three factors: remarkable preservation, a cave population that was thriving during its 20- to 40-year stay, and a real cultural predilection for gaming activities.”

Researchers believe that gambling wasn’t just a form of entertainment but also a way to decide who had to perform certain tasks for the group. In some cases, higher-stakes wagering was used to settle conflicts, researchers believe.

Ironically, gambling is illegal in present day Utah. The state bans all forms of it.

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