I mean unless people had 6 fingers it would seem counter-intuitive to use any numbering system that does not have a base that is a multiple of 5. Or am I missing something?
In: Mathematics
We now count the five fingers on each hand and the two hands we have which gives us a numerical system which is a multiple of two and five. However a lot of other numerical systems also count the three knuckles on each finger to get numerical systems that are multiples of three as well. You can try it out yourself by counting the number of knuckles on one hand using your thumb you get twelve knuckles on the remaining four fingers. If you then use the five fingers on the other hand to count as normal you will be able to count to sixty on your fingers.
We do not actually think that this was the most common way to count in the bronze age. When we see numbers being written down they appear to first count to ten before starting over on the next digit. However after sixty they also start over again. And we have not found any artwork or textbooks which show how they counted on their fingers. But as the number system is a multiple of three it is very likely that they somehow counted the knuckles on the fingers as well somehow.
Latest Answers