Early humans counted and performed simple calculations using tools such as their fingers, notches in sticks, knotted strings, and pebbles. Most early cultures evolved some form of a counting board or abacus to perform calculations. Pencil and paper eventually replaced these early counting boards, but a modern form of the abacus may still be seen in use in parts of Russia and Asia in the twenty-first century.

Counting Boards

Ancient cultures such as the Greeks, Babylonians, and Romans marked parallel lines on a table and placed pebbles on the lines for counting. In the Western hemisphere, the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas used kernels of grain as counters. The parallel lines represented numbers, and pebbles or other counters placed on the lines denoted multiples of that number. Since the value assigned to a counter depended on the line on which it was placed, these early...