BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Not only rich in culture but in history!
While it is popular believed that human civilisation started in Northern African countries, information revealed by archaeological findings suggests that the oldest known mathematical history artefact in history is found in Eswatini.
The artefact is known as the Lebombo bone and has 29 distinct notches, hence its interpretation to be mathematical.
According to the African Heritage website, the Lebombo bone is the oldest known mathematical artefact, making it older than the Ishango bone that was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It is indeed the oldest known mathematical artefact in the world discovered in the 1970s in Border Cave, a rock shelter on the western scarp of the Lebombo Mountains in an area near the border of South Africa and Swaziland (Eswatini). The bone was found on the Eswatini side and dates from 35 000 BC (Before Christ). It consists of 29 distinct notches that were deliberately cut into a baboon’s fibula,” according to the article.
African Heritage also stated that the bone is between 44 200 and 43 000 years old, according to 24 radiocarbon datings. This is far older than the Ishango bone with which it is sometimes confused. Other notched bones are 80 000 years old but it is unclear if the notches are merely decorative or if they bear a functional meaning.
According to The Universal Book of Mathematics, the Lebombo bone’s 29 notches “may have been used as a lunar phase counter, in which case African women may have been the first mathematicians, because keeping track of menstrual cycles requires a lunar calendar”.
However, the bone is clearly broken at one end, so the 29 notches may or may not be a minimum number. In the cases of other notched bones since found globally, there has been no consistent notch tally, many being in the one to ten range. The Lebombo bone resembles a calendar used by the early men of the area, coming from the San clans of Namibia; this way of making tallies is still used by the San people today.
Renowned liSwati Historian and Archaeologists Bob Forrester confirmed the finding, however, stating that the marks on the bone would have a range of interpretations.
“One would assume the notched on the bone are mathematical, however, this can be otherwise, depending on various interpretations. Otherwise, the Lebombo rocks did home this historical artefact,” said Forrester.
Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stanley Dlamini said it was not surprising that there have been such finding, saying the country needed to institutionalise archaeology and its findings.
“Government needs to have archaeology scholarships and establish a concrete archaeology institution to formalise and organise this sector. This would increase the number of tourists flocking the country.”
He said Eswatini was a rich site for archaeologists as it was explored.
Another archaeological discovery suggests that the Ngwenya Mine is one of the oldest mineral sites which were excavated by Khoisans in BC.
