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The Ishango bone is a bone tool, dated to the Upper Paleolithic era. It is a dark brown length of bone, the fibula of a baboon,〔(A very brief history of pure mathematics: The Ishango Bone ) University of Western Australia School of Mathematics - accessed January 2007.〕 with a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end, perhaps for engraving. It was first thought to be a tally stick, as it has a series of what has been interpreted as tally marks carved in three columns running the length of the tool. But some scientists have suggested that the groupings of notches indicate a mathematical understanding that goes beyond counting. It has also been suggested that the scratches might have been to create a better grip on the handle or for some other non-mathematical reason. The Ishango bone was found in 1960 by Belgian Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt while exploring what was then the Belgian Congo.〔de Heinzelin, Jean: "Ishango", ''Scientific American'', 206:6 (June 1962) 105--116.〕 It was discovered in the area of Ishango near the Semliki River.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://ishango.naturalsciences.be/Flash/flash_local/Ishango-04-EN.html )〕 Lake Edward empties into the Semliki which forms part of the headwaters of the Nile River (now on the border between modern-day Uganda and Congo). The bone was found among the remains of a small community that fished and gathered in this area of Africa. The settlement had been buried in a volcanic eruption.〔Williams, Scott W.: "(Mathematicians of the African Diaspora )" The Mathematics Department of The State University of New York at Buffalo.〕〔D. Huylebrouck, (''The Bone that Began the Space Odyssey'' ), The Mathematical Intelligencer vol 18 no. 4〕 The artifact was first estimated to have originated between 9,000 BC and 6,500 BC.〔Gerdes, Paulus (1991): (On The History of Mathematics in Africa South of the Sahara ); African Mathematical Union, Commission on the History of Mathematics in Africa.〕 However, the dating of the site where it was discovered was re-evaluated, and it is now believed to be more than 20,000 years old.〔Marshack, Alexander (1991): ''The Roots of Civilization'', Colonial Hill, Mount Kisco, NY.〕〔Brooks, A.S. and Smith, C.C. (1987): "Ishango revisited: new age determinations and cultural interpretations", ''The African Archaeological Review'', 5 : 65-78.〕 The Ishango bone is on permanent exhibition at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.〔(Introduction ), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.〕〔(Flash presentation ), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.〕〔(The Ishango Bone, Democratic Republic of the Congo ), on permanent display at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium. UNESCO's Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy〕 ==Possible meaning== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ishango bone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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