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Imagine that you are shepherding your families flock of sheep, way back in pre-history. Your Dad would like to know each evening, that you have brought back as many sheep as you started out with in the morning.

So the short answer is in unrecorded pre-history.

Our present European number systems have their origins in the Middle East.

But the Chinese and the Maya (at least) independently invented number systems.

So the need for a number system seems to have driven its invention.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" as the saying goes.

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12y ago

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