The Ishango Bone – Is This The World’s Oldest Mathematical Artifact?
Most people think that the study of mathematics has its origins in Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, but this view was dramatically challenged in the 1950’s with the discovery of a small animal bone, inscribed with markings that appear to represent numbers.
This artefact was discovered in the small African fishing village of Ishango, on the border of Zaire and Uganda by the Belgian geologist Jean de Heinzelin.
The Ishango Bone now lies at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, and has been dated to around 20,000 BC.
It is thought to be the oldest mathematical artefact ever discovered.
The Bone
At first glance the bone appears to be a simple writing tool. It is 10 cm long, and at one end is embedded with a piece of quartz thought to be for engraving and tattooing. Closer examination reveals a series of notches running up the side of the bone, in three columns.
The notches are clustered together as shown below:
The middle column begins with 3 notches, and then doubles to 6 notches. The process is repeated for the number 4, which doubles to 8 notches, and then reversed for the number 10, which is halved to 5 notches.
This suggests that the layout of numbers is not purely random and instead suggests some understanding of the principle of multiplication and division by 2.
The bone may therefore have been used as a counting tool for simple mathematical procedures.
This view is further supported by looking at the number of notches on either side of the central column. The numbers on both the left and right column are all odd numbers (9, 11, 13, 17, 19 and 21).
Furthermore, the numbers on the left column are all prime numbers, suggesting some mathematical knowledge.
The numbers on each side column add up to 60, with the numbers in the central column adding up to 48.
Both of these numbers are multiples of 12, again suggesting an understanding of multiplication and division.
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