History of Bowling - Bowling's Ancient Origin

History of Bowling
Bowling's Ancient Origins

Bowling History: The Origin Of Ten Pin Bowling.

History of bowling or ten pin bowling has evidence of it origin unearthed by archaeologists in recent decades reveals that the pastime of tossing an object at targets for fun has been in existence since ancient times.

Findings have disclosed specific evidence of games from earlier periods that were similar to bowling, in which a ball was thrown at pins. Some of the discovered implements and objects for these games that resemble bowling were unearthed by archaeologists at Egyptian burial sites and that date back to as early as 3200 B.C.

In addition, Studies of ancient Polynesian culture and of the Roman Empire additionally show that bowling pin games have been in existence in one form or another since ancient times. These games were very similar to the ten pin bowling and developed, over time, into the game we know today.

Discoveries of Ten Pin Bowling

A British anthropologist, Sir Flinders Petrie, discovered a collection of objects, including implements that appeared to be used for a crude form of bowling, among the contents of the grave of an Egyptian child. Although many sources place the discovery in 1930, it was actually made in 1895, as recorded in the monograph Naqada and Ballas 1895, by W. M. Flinders Petrie and J. E. Quibell.

The game, which was similar to the more recent games skittles and ninepins, included a gateway consisting of three pieces of marble through which a ball was rolled against a set of nine skittles. This is the oldest known form of the game of bowling. Recent carbon dating sets the date of the grave in which the game was uncovered at around 3000 B.C. That would establish the earliest traces of bowling as a game approximately 5000 years ago.

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History of Bowling
Bowling's Ancient Origins