![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/currents-straight.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
If you take a close look at the pottery bearing some of the oldest known plant art, you can find the buds of mathematics\u2014advancements that seem to have emerged millennia before the invention of writing or formal numeric systems.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to track humanity\u2019s development of mathematical skills before writing or numbers came onto the scene, but art can offer some promising hints. Early ancient art mostly consisted of relatively straightforward depictions of animals and humans, but later works represent a critical shift in which people began to exhibit more complex visual flair and an increasing grasp of geometry.<\/p>\n This includes sophisticated pottery from the Halafian culture of northern Mesopotamia, a society of farmers. A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel analyzed ancient botanic illustrations found on Halafian pottery from 29 archeological sites spanning 6200 to 5500 B.C. to learn more about these floral findings.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. \u201cThese vessels represent the first moment in history when people chose to portray the botanical world as a subject worthy of artistic attention,\u201d the study authors, Hebrew University archeologists Yosef Garfinkel and Sarah Krulwich, said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cIt reflects a cognitive shift tied to village life and a growing awareness of symmetry and aesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n By closely inspecting more than 700 pottery fragments adorned with plant motifs, Garfinkel and Krulwich noticed a fascinating pattern: They found floral bowls with petals arranged into geometric sequences of 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, findings reported<\/a> in the Journal of World Prehistory.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Read more: \u201cFinding the Color of an Empire<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe ability to divide space evenly, reflected in these floral motifs, likely had practical roots in daily life, such as sharing harvests or allocating communal fields,\u201d Garfinkel added.<\/p>\n This suggests that these pieces of pottery were more than pretty possessions\u2014they helped people make sense of their surroundings and think through complicated tasks. This unfolded thousands of years before the world\u2019s first known writing system, cuneiform, emerged in Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. \u201cThese patterns show that mathematical thinking began long before writing,\u201d Krulwich said. \u201cPeople visualized divisions, sequences, and balance through their art.\u201d Enjoying\u00a0 Nautilus<\/a>? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lead image: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Molly Glick <\/p>\n
\n Explore
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/46EC24II-Glick_BREAKER.png\")
EARLY GEOMETRY: Researchers found carefully designed symmetrical arrangements of flower petals on Halafian pottery. Image from Garfinkel, Y., et al. Journal of World Prehistory (2025).<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/nautilus-favicon-14.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n