The America’s first casino in a cave was found

June 10, 2015

In the American state of Utah scientists found a cave with the numerous artifacts dated to the XIII century.

By character of these finds- various dice and sticks- a real casino once worked in that pace. Archaeologists found a cave on the southern coast of Great Salt lake, they supposed that in this place there was a public institution where indigenous Americans conducted game on the valuable things serving as substitutes of money. During excavation, they found hundreds of carved sticks, which, apparently, carried out the same role, as chips in a modern casino. According to the scientists, they still hope to find more than 10000 artifacts in this cave.

The rules of ancient gambling

The scientists supposed that people played in the following way. They threw short sticks, empty on the one side and with jags or traces of fire on the other. The one, who called the quantity of these signs lying the side up most exactly, won. This gambling equipment was found at the entrance to a cave, round the remains of the ancient fireplace.

Unlike the modern world, in the XIII century the casino was visited only by women. As Gabriel Yanicki explained, women used personal small belongings or performance of the daily duties for bets. “Women threw these improvised bones to distribute the performance of the most difficult and hard work, such as separation of skins from hulk and preparation of them for tailoring, – Jack Ives, an archaeologist at Alberta’s University declares to Western Digs, – The possibility to play speaks about a rather comfortable life of the tribe”.

On a twist of fate, the State of Utah, the territory where the most ancient casino was found in America, is the most conservative in the USA in respect of gambling legalization. The majority of local population are Mormons, and this religious trend is extremely negative to all types of gambling.

Travel from past to future

One more tribal casino, California’s Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians is going to celebrate the 20th anniversary by launching their slot ‘Icarus’ into space on June 14 with the help of JP Aerospace. They are also planning to organize Out Of This World Party in Soboba casino on June 27.

Our other casino related news: Casino News.