Of dice and women: Gambling and exchange in Native North America

Although archaeologists have had success in documenting the movement and di stribution of 'trade goods', they often fail to specify the actual social m echanisms by which such goods are shunted across archaeological landscapes. A thesis is developed that in Native North America gambling was one common mechanism for intergroup exchange. Particular attention is paid to dice ga mes that, according to ethnographic accounts were often played primarily by women. Building upon the pioneering compilation by Stewart Culin, game par aphernalia, playing rules, as well as odds and payoffs associated with wage ring are described and mapped. The social and mythological contexts of dice games are also reviewed. Results indicate that making hitherto neglected l inks among exchange, gender, and gambling promises novel and more culturall y informed ways of approaching the archaeological record.