Week 1: the Lebombo Bone

Sept. 6, 2010:  Diversity is any kind of variety that makes our world a better place.  

Today we have a variety of tools to solve math problems.  Calculators and computers come to mind right away.  But don’t forget that rulers, multiplication tables and even calendars are math tools too.  Can you guess what is the oldest known math tool ever found? 

The answer is a baboon bone.  On this week in 1968, excavators were searching through a cave in the Lebombo Mountains of Swaziland, Africa.  What they found was a 35,000 year old baboon tibula (a bone in the leg).  Scientists believe it was used as a math tool because the tibula had 29 distinct notches carved into it, most likely to measure some kind of 29 day monthly cycle.  Today, the famous bone is known around the world as “the Lebombo Bone.” 

Remember, you don’t have to travel as far as Swaziland to find diversity.  There are hundreds of opportunities to celebrate diversity right in your own school.  Find one today!