It’s like a watch. Every four years, a new coterie is found unexpectedly enjoy curling. It’s easy to see why. There is an element of competitive pornography in watching passionate athletes masterfully do something that in the rest of the world might look like bocce on ice. The accuracy of throwing the stone, the careful sweeping. This is changing. As the 2026 Winter Olympics start in Italy, the audience is fascinated.

But as viewers tune in to learn all about the game’s modern iteration and all the gadgets that come with it, attention should be paid to the curlers of the past—and what their game says about how Earth’s climate used to be.

The first written record of curling dates back to 1540. A notary in Paisley, Scotland, named John McQuhin wrote a record in Latin of a challenge between John Sclater, a monk at Paisley Abbey, and Gavin Hamilton, the abbot’s representative. It is said that Sclater threw a rock three times over the frozen lake and agreed to the competition. There is no record of whether or not anyone won this challenge, but it was agreed that moving rocks along the frozen waters was a good time.

Often referred to as “the roaring sport” because of the sounds made by ice stones, curling became popular in northern Europe, especially in Scotland, due to the harsh winters of 400-plus years ago. The Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder showed peasants watching the game as if healing in two paintings in 1565 and 1566. The word “curling”—born from the curl, or curved trajectory, of the stones during the game—first appeared in 1620 in the verses of a poem by Henry Adamson.

Formed in 1716, the Kilsyth Curling Club, from the Scottish town of the same name, is widely regarded as the world’s first official curling club. (It is still active today.) The Royal Caledonian Curling Club, founded in 1838, first formalized the rules of the game, according to the International Olympic Committee. From the club grew the World Curling Federation, which is based in the Scottish city of Perth and remains active to this day.

Earlier, the stones used in the game were literally: stones that were flattened and shaped. There are no requirements for size or handles. Some have holes, similar to a bowling ball. Crude stones mean that throwers rely on luck rather than skill or technique.

Over the years, the sport introduced more rules and regulations, some very complex, regarding the weight and shape of the stones. So is the size of the pitch and the structure of the matches. Now the skip, or leader of the group, shouts instructions to those throwing their curls, energy, and passes. Skipping is also done by the sweepers who “sweep” the face in front of the stone to make it smooth.

The Scots are also responsible for spreading curling around the world. Immigrants from Scotland brought their love for the sport to North America, especially to Canada, where it is still popular.

Curling made its Olympic debut in 1924 at the Winter Games in Chamonix, France. At the time, it was just a demonstration game. It was not until 1998, during the Games in Nagano, Japan, that it became an official Olympic sport. So far, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway have distinguished themselves as curling competitors at the Games.

As the sport made its way to an official Olympic sport, it also entered popular culture. The Beatles tried to play in their 1965 film Help! The game also made an appearance in the 1969 James Bond film In Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

In the early 2000s, as 24-hour coverage and DVRs became the norm for watching the Olympics, the sport has developed a cult following. People who can now watch events at times convenient for their time zone find that they can listen and get lost in the fun dynamic of the game for hours. For the 2026 Winter Games, coverage continues—every stone and every broom.