The Origins of Numbers May Lie in 20,000-Year-Old Bone Markings

The Origins of Numbers May Lie in 20,000-Year-Old Bone Markings

The Ishango Bone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Joeykentin CC BY 4.0 Researchers studying prehistoric artifacts believe the earliest evidence of humans recording numbers may lie in simple bone markings made up to 20,000 years ago. The study, led by Lloyd Austin Courtenay and published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, explores how these marks could reveal the origins of numerical thinking. Simple marks, complex meaning The research e…