HISTORY LESSON

The Ishango Bone

Our Ancestors have been credited with pioneering the fundamental principles of arithmetic approximately 25,000 years ago. Evidence of this can be found in the Ishango bone, a tool handle discovered in the Ishango region of Zaïre (now known as Congo) near Lake Edward. Initially believed to be around 8,000 years old, recent advancements in dating techniques have revealed that the bone tool is actually 25,000 years old.

The Ishango bone features three rows of notches, each with its own significance. In the first row, three notches are carved next to six, four notches are carved next to eight, ten notches are carved next to two fives, and finally, a seven is represented. These notches symbolize the process of doubling, with the numbers 3 and 6, 4 and 8, and 10 and 5 illustrating this concept.

Moving on to the second row, we observe eleven notches carved next to twenty-one notches, as well as nineteen notches carved next to nine notches. These notches represent the addition and subtraction operations, specifically 10 + 1, 20 + 1, 20 – 1, and 10 – 1.

Lastly, the third row showcases eleven notches, thirteen notches, seventeen notches, and nineteen notches. These numbers, namely 11, 13, 17, and 19, are prime numbers falling between the range of 10 and 20.

The Ishango bone serves as a remarkable testament to the mathematical prowess and ingenuity of Africans, who laid the foundation for basic arithmetic thousands of years ago. 

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