Abacus

An early calculating tool using beads or stones, facilitating complex arithmetic.

Core metadata

ID: abacus
Era: Classical
First known date: -1100 (century)
Region: Ancient Near East and later Mediterranean and Asian calculation traditions
Review status: source_checked
Maturity: N/A

Prerequisites

Dependents

None.

Fields

None.

Node sources

Computer: History of computing (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026, textbook) • Supports: node

Prerequisite edge evidence

Edge/source evidence summary:

Prerequisite edges: 4
Average edge confidence: 72%
Prerequisite sources: 4
expert_inference: 4

Prerequisite	Type	Confidence	Evidence level	Note	Sources
Mathematics (mathematics)	enabling	68%	expert_inference	Mathematics provides a capability that enables this technology without being the only possible path.	Mathematics (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026, textbook) • Supports: edge
Basic Woodworking (woodworking_basic)	historical_predecessor	75%	expert_inference	Basic Woodworking is an earlier historical predecessor or foundation, not a one-to-one engineering dependency.	The wooden artifacts from Schöningen's Spear Horizon and their place in human evolution (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024, primary_paper) • Supports: edge
Record Keeping (record_keeping)	historical_predecessor	75%	expert_inference	Record Keeping is an earlier historical predecessor or foundation, not a one-to-one engineering dependency.	How to write cuneiform (British Museum, 2020, museum) • Supports: edge
Bronze Working (bronze_working)	enabling	68%	expert_inference	Bronze Working provides a capability that enables this technology without being the only possible path.	Materials (NIST, 2026, generic_overview) • Supports: edge

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