[sphinx]

That's my reaction as well. These are perfectly plausible speculations based on inferences from group size and tools. Plausible, yes ... but for all we really know, Neanderthals had a rich language and narrative tradition, were musical fiends, and had pi out to nine places.

Speaking of pi ... I have an historical/cultural question. The ancients, of course, made a big deal out of pi, and several different cultures figured it out, apparently independently, to a surprising number of decimal places. My question is, what interested them in pi to begin with? Early mathematics arose mostly in the context of practical problem solving, and it's fairly easy to see why various calculations were developed. But what about pi? Am I overlooking some obvious Bronze Age problem that would have drawn attention to that particular ratio?

[SoCal Pubbie]

“Am I overlooking some obvious Bronze Age problem that would have drawn attention to that particular ratio? “

They needed it to figure out the area of the crop circles the ancient astronauts left when their ships landed to teach primitive man how to levitate giant stone blocks to build large structures.

[Sacajaweau]

We know pi is only approximate. That means all answers employing pi are approximate....a mathematicians nightmare.

That has always upset me. I'm still sick about it.

[treetopsandroofs]

Fencing? Knowing how many trees to cut down, etc. to enclose the land?

Sundials? Making ‘em small, and big for the EEEvil 1%?

[gcraig]

But what about pi?

Maybe they were inspired to find this ratio by observing a full moon?

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“My question is, what interested them in pi to begin with?”

Had to do with hat sizes.

[mamelukesabre]

Triangles and angles...all related to PI. You have to know PI to calculate angles. If you start starring at the sky and and try to navigate by them, everything turns into angles. If you try to build anything, you run into angles everywhere.

In other words EVERYTHING REQUIRES PI! You aren’t much into math are ya?