A recent batch of carbon dating is causing the history of mathematics to be rewritten, as it has discovered zeros dating back to a period 500 years before previously seen.The numbers appear in an ancient Indian text called the Bakhshali manuscript, which consists of 70 leaves of birch bark, filled with mathematics and text in the form of Sanskrit. It's this dot that later evolved to be the symbol with a hole in the middle that we know today. The use of zero as a placeholder appeared in several different ancient cultures, such as the ancient Mayans and Babylonians. Numbers were there to count things, so if there is nothing there why would you need a number?" The concept of zero, initially banned as heresy, was eventually allowed for the development of calculus, and underpins the digital age.

Source: Times of India September 15, 2017 00:45 UTC