Cultural Development of Mathematical Ideas: Papua New Guinea Studies

Drawing upon field studies conducted in 1978, 1980, and 2001 with a remote Papua New Guinea group, the Oksapmin, Geoffrey Saxe traces the emergence of new forms of numerical representations and ideas in the social history of the community. In traditional life, the Oksapmin used a 27-body-part counting system, and there is no evidence that Oksapmin used arithmetic in prehistory. With shifting practices of economic exchange and schooling, children and adults unwittingly reproduce and alter the system as they solve new kinds of numerical and arithmetical problems, a process that leads to new forms of collective representations in the community. While Saxe's focus is on the Oksapmin, the insights and general framework he provides are useful for understanding shifting representational forms and emerging cognitive functions in any human community.