Prehistoric counting
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Numeral systems |
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Hindu–Arabic numeral system |
East Asian |
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American |
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Alphabetic |
Former |
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Positional systems by base |
Non-standard positional numeral systems |
List of numeral systems |
Counting in prehistory was first assisted by using body parts, primarily the fingers. This is reflected in the etymology of certain number names, such as in the names of ten and hundred in the Proto-Indo-European numerals, both containing the root *dḱ also seen in the word for "finger" (Latin digitus, cognate to English toe).
Early systems of counting using tally marks appear in the Upper Paleolithic. The first more complex systems develop in the Ancient Near East together with the development of early writing out of proto-writing systems.
Background[]
Numerals originally developed from the use of tally marks as a counting aid, with the oldest examples being about 35,000 to 25,000 years old.
Development[]
Counting aids like tally marks become more sophisticated in the Near Eastern Neolithic, developing into numerical digits in various types of proto-writing during the Chalcolithic.
Old world[]
- Egyptian numerals
- Babylonian numerals
- Aegean numerals
New world[]
- Quipu
- Maya numerals
Early numerals in Unicode[]
Unicode's Supplementary Multilingual Plane has a number of code point ranges reserved for prehistoric or early historic numerals:
- Aegean Numbers (10100–1013F)
- Ancient Greek Numbers (10140–1018F)
- Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation (12400–1247F)
- Counting Rod Numerals (1D360–1D37F)
See also[]
- Abacus
- Attic numerals
- Australian Aboriginal enumeration
- Cherty i rezy
- Chuvash numerals
- Counting rods
- History of ancient numeral systems
- History of communication
- History of mathematics
- Lebombo bone
- Paleolithic tally sticks
- Roman numerals
- Tally marks
References[]
Citations[]
Sources cited[]
- Evans, Arthur J. (1900). "Writing in Prehistoric Greece". Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 30: 91–93. JSTOR 2842725.
External links[]
- Birch, David (March 24, 2010). "Pre Historic Era 100.000 bc - 1438 bc". History of Computing. Archived from the original on 2011-11-21.
- jonhays. "How burning tally-sticks destroyed the British Houses of Parliament". Generating Arithmetic. Fortune City. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05.
- Numeral systems
- Prehistory