Counting in prehistory was first assisted by using body parts, most notably the fingers. This is reflected in the etymology of certain number names, notably 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).
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Counting aids other than body parts appear in the Upper Paleolithic. The oldest tally sticks date to between 35,000 and 25,000 years ago, in the form of notched bones found in the context of the European Aurignacian to Gravettian and in Africa's Late Stone Age.
The so-called Wolf bone is a prehistoric artefact discovered in 1937 in Czechoslovakia during excavations at Vestonice, Moravia, led by Karl Absolon. Dated to the Aurignacian, approximately 30,000 years ago, the bone is marked with 55 tally marks. The head of an ivory Venus figurine was excavated close to the bone.[1]
The Ishango Bone found in the Ishango region of what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo, dated to ca. 20,000 years ago, is notable for claims that it portrays a series of prime numbers. In the book How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years, Peter Rudman argues that the development of the concept of prime numbers could only have come about after the concept of division, which he dates to after 10,000 BC, with prime numbers probably not being understood until about 500 BC. He also writes that "no attempt has been made to explain why a tally of something should exhibit multiples of two, prime numbers between 10 and 20, and some numbers that are almost multiples of 10."[2]
These counting aids become more sophisticated in the Near Eastern Neolithic, developing into various types of proto-writing. The Cuneiform script develops out of proto-writing associated with keeping track of goods during the Chalcolithic.
The Moksha people according to Soviet archaeology had a numeral system archaeologically attested from the Stone Age.[5] The numerals were tally marks carved on wood, drawn on clay or birch bark. In some places they were preserved until the beginning of 20th century mostly among small traders, bee-keepers, and village elders. These numerals still can be found on old shepherd and tax-gatherer staffs, apiaries, and pottery.[6] [7] [8] [9]
New World: Quipu, Maya numerals.
Unicode's Supplementary Multilingual Plane has a number of codepoint ranges reserved for prehistoric or early historic numerals: