Exploring the Evolutionary Pathways from Number Sense to Numeracy

Abstract

In this chapter, four stages are proposed for the evolutionary development of number systems in humans with special emphasis being given to neurocognitive and linguistic aspects of the evolutionary process. The four stages are: 1) number sense—innate quantitative competence without counting and language; 2) transition to syntactic language and counting skills; 3) transition from finger-counting to numeracy; and 4) establishment of a complex numerical lexicon and its notational instantiation. Evidence drawn from the archaeological record as well as contemporary ethnographic research is used to investigate the symbolic reference gap that exists between the two biologically given systems which allow for quantification judgments and those systems that are truly numerical in nature and hence culturally instantiated. The possible key role played by finger-counting, specifically as a bridging mechanism, in this evolutionary process is also highlighted.