We learn to count at such an early age that we tend to take the notion of abstract numbers for granted. We readily forget the mental leap required to go from counting specific things to the abstract concept of number as an expression of quantity.
Abstract numbers are the product of a long cultural evolution.
They also apparently played a crucial role in the development of writing in the Middle East. Indeed, numbers came before letters, contends archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat of the University of Texas in Austin. How Writing Came About , she describes the evidence and reasoning that led her to such a startling conclusion. When Schmandt-Besserat began her studies nearly 3 decades ago, she was looking for the earliest examples of the human use of clay. She expected to see bricks, beads, and figurines.