History of Mathematics Module

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
MODULE 1
PRE - HISTORIC MATHEMATICS
Introduction
This module is all about the History of mathematics is an area of study
that explores on the previous events, and places that bear notably on the growth of
mathematical ideas.
This will focus on Prehistory refers to the period before people kept written
records. It is also called Stone Age. The learning targets presented at the beginning
of this module will be your guide as you pursue on studying the module topics which are
carefully designed for you to learn. The whole responsibility of learning lies on your
shoulders. Read all of the content with sustained interest and accomplish tasks with
sincerity. Write your answer legibly and avoid erasures.
As you journey on this lesson, you are expected to:

Learning Outcomes:
Explain the pre – historic mathematics.
Learning
Learning Objectives:
Targets
Identify the beginnings, and numeric terms and systems of early
civilizations.
Content Exploration
Are you ready for today’s lesson? This time, you are tasked to read the texts below and
be able to comprehend it well.
Pre – Historic Mathematics

Did you Know?
History of Mathematics is an area of study that explores on the previous
events, and places that bear notably on the growth of mathematical ideas. Mathematics continues
to grow at a phenomenal rate. There is no end and the application of it to science becomes
greater all the time. Our prehistoric ancestors would have had a general sensibility about
amounts, and would have instinctively known the difference between saying one and two. But
the intellectual leap from the concrete idea of two things to the invention of a symbol or word for
the abstract idea of “two” took many ages to come out. Early man kept track of regular
occurrences such as the phases of the moon and the seasons. Some of the earliest evidence of
mankind thinking about numbers is from notched bones in Africa dating back 35,000 years ago.
THE BEGINNINGS
A. PREHISTORIC TIMES
Prehistory refers to the period before people kept written records. It is also called Stone
Age.
PALEOLITHIC AGE
 Often referred to as the Old Stone Age
 The longest part of prehistoric times
 People had no permanent places to live; lived in caves and made temporary homes by
using plants and animal skins to make tents.
NEOLITHIC AGE
 Often referred to as the New Stone Age
 Marked with changes from crude ways of doing things to a more refined form.
 Developed farming, tamed wild animals; learned pottery making, weaving and
working with metals; and established villages.
 Developed ideas of trade, private property and quantity.
B. ETHNOMATHEMATICS
 It is the mathematics that is persistent in particular cultural groups.

 Nos - within a cultural background
 Mathema - explaining and understanding inorder to transcend
NUMERIC TERMS & SYSTEMS OF EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

1. Native Americans- used quinary counting (based on five)
2. Mesoamerican- used vegisimal number system (based twenty) using only three symbols:
a shell- like symbol representing 0, a dot representing 1, and a line representing 5.
3. Mayans- Dresden Codex (a treatise on astronomy), used vegisimal number sysytem,used
two calendars; ritual and civil calendars
4. Incans- kept detailedand clear information on census, taxes owed or collected, output of
mines, and composition of work forces, used Quipo to encode the numeric details, used a
base ten number, used a counting board called Yupana, to solve mathematical problems
5. Africans- words for a certain numbers are based upon the parts of the human body,
applied geometric patterns and designs in hair braiding.
Even today, there are isolated hunter-gatherer tribes in Amazonia which only have words for
“one” “two” and “many”, and others which only have words for numbers up to five.
ISHANGO BONE
A tally stick from Central Africa, dates
from about 20, 000 years ago.
LEBOMBO BONE
The Lebombo bone from
Africa is the oldest known
calendar – a baboon tibia with
29 notches. This has been
dated to 35,000 years ago. A 29 to 30 day lunar calendar is extremely old and is found
all over the ancient world.

History of Mathematics Module

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HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

PRE - HISTORIC MATHEMATICS

As you journey on this lesson, you are expected to:

Pre – Historic Mathematics

 It is the mathematics that is persistent in particular cultural groups.

NUMERIC TERMS & SYSTEMS OF EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

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