The Ishango Bone – Is This The World’s Oldest Mathematical Artefact?

[water]

The Ishango Bone – Is This The World’s Oldest Mathematical Artefact?

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.


http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Ishango_Bone.html








Getting us unstuck from the sports & entertainment paradigm one thread at a time............

 

[nyeleman]

Thanks

I always tell fools that they were greater lost civilisations that predated babylon and egypt some going as far is 80000 BC but brothers think the world really began in 3000 BC The babylonians and egyptians knew of these civilisations and acknowledged them but in today's miscontrued world if they don't understand something then thats an excuse that it never existed

 

[Spectrum]

great post again.. the dead giveaway is the grouping of "prime" numbers. That can't happen by accident. That's the most fundamental discovery of mathematics... If you read any book about Mathematics.. even theoretical mathematics....one that gives a history of mathematics, they almost always start with the important of Prime numbers. I was just starting one a couple of weeks ago about the "greatest theoroms in mathematics" and before even getting into it..they devoted the entire first chapter to prime numbers.

This is really a powerful discovery.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

20,000 BC?

the Black man was a man while the white man was a tree dweller.

 

[water]

The Ishango Bone

The Ishango Bone. (Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.)


The Ishango Bone is remarkable in having a number of notches carved in three rows, markings that appear to be deliberate. They are arranged in 16 groups, each group having a different number of notches, from 3 to 19.



Because of the complexity of the groupings it is generally agreed that the markings are not random. But what then was their purpose?


Various details have led some researches to suggest that the Ishango Bone is some kind of primitive mathematical table.



For example, along one edge the number of notches in each group is a prime number (prime numbers are divisible only by themselves and one; e.g., 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 19, etc.)



Coincidence? Perhaps. But then, there are three separate rows of notches, and the total number of notches in each row is a multiple of twelve.



Another coincidence? Maybe. But along one row, the notches in adjacent groups appear to be related by a factor of two: 3 notches in one group and 6 in the next, then 4 followed by 8, then 10 and 5.



A crude multiplication table? Or another coincidence?



http://www.planetquest.org/learn/ishango.html

 

[D Town Redd]

Back before the Sahara dried up, most of the world's innovations were made in that region. Not too publicized.

Good drop, playa

D Town Redd
==============

Click Here to get into Law School even if you have shitty grades.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

it would be shaped like a rib...

 

[Spectrum]

Man... There is no way there is a row of prime numbers by coincidence... that 22,000 years ago this discovery was made is really remarkable. Though I personally don't have strong mathematically skills, I read about mathematical theories, etc because it helps me when thinking of creating algorithms for my software projects. I also tend to read a lot of the history of mathematics. I own books abou The Divine Proportion, 0, fibonacci numbers,etc. Primality (the theory of prime) is about as fundamental as you can get in number theory. It's really the basis of modern mathematics.

You don't randomly produce a long list of prime numbers. It's mathematically improbable just to randomly spit out of long list of ONLY primes. They definitely discovered primality..even if just rudimentary. I'm definitely going to read more about this.

 

[water]

20,000 BC?

the Black man was a man while the white man was a tree dweller.

The black man needs to wake up from sleeping and diligently work to re-claim his rightful place as the creator........

 

[water]

Man... There is no way there is a row of prime numbers by coincidence... that 22,000 years ago this discovery was made is really remarkable. Though I personally don't have strong mathematically skills, I read about mathematical theories, etc because it helps me when thinking of creating algorithms for my software projects. I also tend to read a lot of the history of mathematics. I own books abou The Divine Proportion, 0, fibonacci numbers,etc. Primality (the theory of prime) is about as fundamental as you can get in number theory. It's really the basis of modern mathematics.

You don't randomly produce a long list of prime numbers. It's mathematically improbable just to randomly spit out of long list of ONLY primes. They definitely discovered primality..even if just rudimentary. I'm definitely going to read more about this.

You mean you might have to swing through Brussels to check it out.........

 

[Spectrum]

You mean you might have to swing through Brussels to check it out.........

oh snap. I wasn't even thinking about that... I'll be right through there for a couple of days.. if they allow cameras in there..I will snap some pics too...

 

[water]

Man... There is no way there is a row of prime numbers by coincidence... that 22,000 years ago this discovery was made is really remarkable. Though I personally don't have strong mathematically skills, I read about mathematical theories, etc because it helps me when thinking of creating algorithms for my software projects. I also tend to read a lot of the history of mathematics. I own books abou The Divine Proportion, 0, fibonacci numbers,etc. Primality (the theory of prime) is about as fundamental as you can get in number theory. It's really the basis of modern mathematics.

You don't randomly produce a long list of prime numbers. It's mathematically improbable just to randomly spit out of long list of ONLY primes. They definitely discovered primality..even if just rudimentary. I'm definitely going to read more about this.

I did courses on discrete math, turing machines, automata, combinatorics etc... as part of my MS Computer Science but when i look at the material some of it seem like a foreign language...........lol

 

[Spectrum]

I did courses on discrete math, turing machines, automata, combinatorics etc... as part of my MS Computer Science but when i look at the material some of it seem like a foreign language...........lol

man if there was one thing I could go back and do again, it would have been to continue with math...seriously. I used to have a strong mathematically mind when I was younger and just simply go lazy with it....considering how I ended up in IT, that knowledge would have been immensely helpful.

I read a lot... and I can read fast... the only type of books that consistently humble me and put my brain on freeze are math related books. Man. I can read a dense book written for physicists about string theory (without the math theories) and can absorb it for the most part..

man.. but the math... that one book I mentioned in this thread "Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics"... straight gives me brain freeze sometimes..I've literally had to reread pages several times and just put the book down. I usually get into a book and just knock it out.no matter how long it is....this damn book consistently whips my ass trying to "fully' grasp what is being articulated...and it's not even that 'heavy' of a math theory book ..still haven't finished it.

 

[Heist]

Egypt, Ishango Bone, Oldest Skeletel Remains found by man ....

Is there any more doubt that Africa is indeed the cradle of civilization people?

 

[water]

Egypt, Ishango Bone, Oldest Skeletel Remains found by man ....

Is there any more doubt that Africa is indeed the cradle of civilization people?

But what some people are questioning is whether we evolved like other civilizations and developed number systems, political structures, technology etc....

We all came from Africa but the argument is now that the ones who stayed did not contribute to humanity like other civilization based on a lack of intellectual evolution.

 

[elchoccolatte]

Thanks... Good Info!!!

 

[playboy_d]

it would be shaped like a rib...

You already know, our people love some damn ribs

 

[blaQue Ice]

You already know, our people love some damn ribs

crackas eat just as many ribs, stereotypical....so what would a stereotypical "cracka" food be?

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

crackas eat just as many ribs, stereotypical....so what would a stereotypical "cracka" food be?

Skippy peanut butter and bananas.

 

[darcnight]

But what some people are questioning is whether we evolved like other civilizations and developed number systems, political structures, technology etc....

We all came from Africa but the argument is now that the ones who stayed did not contribute to humanity like other civilization based on a lack of intellectual evolution.

Give me a break. the only ones who pose that "question" are racist / colour struck idiots. lol @ intellectual evolution.

There are no separate human races.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

Give me a break. the only ones who pose that "question" are racist / colour struck idiots.

are you saying such people don't exist?

 

[Heist]

But what some people are questioning is whether we evolved like other civilizations and developed number systems, political structures, technology etc....

We all came from Africa but the argument is now that the ones who stayed did not contribute to humanity like other civilization based on a lack of intellectual evolution.

An evoled civilization has no need for political structures, and number systems (money), as for technology - engineers today still cannot understand how the pyramids were built of a great number other Egyptian devices.

We all need to keep in mind, human civilization has made the greatest technological strides over the last 100 years and this is all based on our ability to finally harness and control energy in the form of electricity.

 

[I.F. UCKEDYABITCH]

Enlightened!

 

[water]

bump

 

[Gemma]

This is an interesting find 20,000 BC damn that shit preserved well.

 

[water]

This is an interesting find 20,000 BC damn that shit preserved well.

It also has a quartz crystal embedded at the top...............

 

[water]

bump

 

[DarkVoid]

This is deep, all this great wealth of knowledge. Damn Good information.

Thanks Kayanation for dropping more knowledge, I learned more here than I have ever learned in school.

 

[water]

Thanks to all who commented to bump this thread for others........

 

[Maximumtrini]

Modern Humans been around in Africa a long time...It's hard for me to believe that they didn't do arithmetic like this before the Egyptians or other civilization. I won't use this to say other races are inferior. That would be racist...We just came first with this shit.

 

[djdez]

Shaka Zulu approves this post...

 

[water]

bump

 

[max-dawg]

Modern Humans been around in Africa a long time...It's hard for me to believe that they didn't do arithmetic like this before the Egyptians or other civilization. I won't use this to say other races are inferior. That would be racist...We just came first with this shit.

i do NOT consider myself a racist.

but i do MAKE SURE THAT WHITE FOLKS UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING:

the sun... the VERY THING that gives life to ALL things on this earth wants to, does, and always tries to KILL THEM as soon as they are born.

they have NO NATURAL protection against the sun, meaning if they stayed out in it for too long, it ages them tremendously, makes them more vulnerable to skin cancers, etc.

they are simply a mutated by-product of the original man... a cave dweller that thrived in the caves of northern europe and asia.

the one thing about them you can't deny is their will to survive so do NOT ever underestimate a mufucka that can survive the ice age.

and one last thing... don't let white folks equate "evolving" with capitalistic greed and the efficient way they rob & steal entire cultures and oppress people.

 

[Izayoi]

Bump for the knowledge

 

[DANGEROUSBLACKMAN]

Interesting Stuff.