For over a century, archaeologists have argued over the original purpose of the strange looking object shown above, which was discovered in 1906 in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian architect Kha. Now, an Italian physicist claims to have deduced the artifact's true function:She says it's the world's first known…

Archaeologists have dug up many ancient, notched bones all around the world, but the Ishango bone is different. On it, there are markings that suggest its owners were making the first attempts at actual mathematics.