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How did Neanderthals and other ancient humans learn to count?

Archaeological finds suggest that people developed numbers tens of thousands of years ago. Scholars are now exploring the first detailed hypotheses about this life-changing invention.
  1. Colin Barras

    1. Colin Barras is a science journalist in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Some 60,000 years ago, in what is now western France, a Neanderthal picked up a chunk of hyena femur and a stone tool and began to work. When the task was complete, the bone bore nine notches that were strikingly similar and approximately parallel, as if they were meant to signify something.

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Nature 594, 22-25 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01429-6

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