Comparative Study of Sand Drawings in Oceania and Africa
Abstract: People typically consider only European mathematics as orthodox, often intentionally or unintentionally overlooking the existence of mathematics from non-European societies. Inspired by Maria Ascher's two well-known papers on sand drawings in Oceania and Africa, this paper focuses on the strong link between modern mathematics and the mathematics behind the sand drawings. Beginning with a comparison of the geography, history, and the cultural context of sand drawings in Oceania and Africa, we will examine shared geometric features of European graph theory and Indigenous sand drawings, including continuity, cyclicity, and symmetry. The paper will also delve into the origin of graph theory, exploring whether the famous European mathematician Leonhard Euler, who published his solution to the Konigsberg bridge problem in 1736, was the true inventor of graph theory. The potential for incorporating sand drawings into the school curriculum is highlighted at the end. Overall, this paper aims to make readers realise the importance of ethnomathematics studies and appreciate the intelligence of Indigenous people.
- M. Ascher “Graphs in Cultures (II): A Study in Ethnomathematics” In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 39.1, 1988, pp. 75–95 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41133844
- M. Ascher “Graphs in Cultures: A Study in Ethnomathematics” In Historia Mathematica 15.3, 1988, pp. 201–227 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0315-0860(88)90062-6
- M.C. Borba “Ethnomathematics and Education” In For the Learning of Mathematics 10.1, 1990, pp. 39–43 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40247974
- D.J. Cook “Leibniz on “Advancing toward Greater Culture”” In Studia Leibnitiana 50.2, 2018, pp. 163–179 DOI: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26952734
- “Geometrical Drawings from Malekula and Other Islands of the New Hebrides” In The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 64, 1934, pp. 129–175 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2843952
- S. Devylder “The archipelago of meaning: Methodological contributions to the study of Vanuatu sand drawing” In The Australian Journal of Anthropology 33, 2022, pp. 279–327 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.12428
- L. Euler “Solutio problematis ad geometriam situs pertinensis” In Commentarii Academiae Scientarum Imperialis Petropolitanae 8, 1736, pp. 128–140 + Plate VIII
- R. Firth “A Raga tale” In Mun 39, 1930, pp. 58–60
- P. Gathercole “Introduction” In In Gardiner, 1984, pp. xi–xv
- W. Gautschi “Leonhard Euler: His Life, the Man, and His Works” In SIAM Review 50.1, 2008, pp. 3–33 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20454060
- P. Gerdes “Exploring Angolan Sand Drawings (sona): Stimulating Cultural Awareness in Mathematics Teachers” In The Radical Teacher 43, 1993, pp. 18–24 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20709758
- P. Gerdes “On ethnomathematics and the transmission of mathematical knowledge in and outside schools in Africa south of the Sahara” In Sciences and Development 5, 1996, pp. 229–246
- P. Gerdes “On mathematics in the history of Sub-Saharan Africa” In Historia Mathematica 21.3, 1994, pp. 345–376 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/hmat.1994.1029
- P. Gerdes “On Possible Uses of Traditional Angolan Sand Drawings in the Mathematics Classroom” In Educational Studies in Mathematics 19.1, 1988, pp. 3–22 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3482197
- I. Hodder “The Meanings of Things: Material Culture and Symbolic Expression” Routledge, 2013
- G.G. Joseph “The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition) (STU-Student edition)” Princeton University Press, 2011
- V.J. Katz “Ethnomathematics in the Classroom” In For the Learning of Mathematics 14.2, 1994, pp. 26–30 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40248112
- G. Kubik “Space/Time Concepts and the ”Tusona” Ideographs in Luchazi Culture: With a Discussion of Possible Cross-Parallels in Music” In African Music 6.4, 1987, pp. 53–89 DOI: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30249791
- G. Kubike “Tusona: Luchazi Ideographs : a Graphic Tradition of West-Central Africa” LIT Verlag Münster, 2006
- C.M. Latterell “Social stigma and mathematical ignorance” In Academic Exchange Quarterly 9.3, 2005, pp. 167–171
- C.M. Latterell “What is Mathematics?” In Mathematics in School 41.2, 2012, pp. 34–35 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23269096
- J.W. Layard “Degree-Taking Rites in South West Bay, Malekula. (With Plates XIV-XIX.)” In The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 58, 1928, pp. 139–223 DOI: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4619530
- “Some Simple Applications of the Travelling Salesman Problem” In Operational Research Quarterly (1970-1977) 26.4, 1975, pp. 717–733 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3008306
- G. Meurant “Abstractions aux royaumes des Kuba” Éditions Dapper, 1987
- J. Redinha “As Gravuras Rupestres Do Alto Zambeze E Primeira Tentativa Da Sua Interpretação” In Publicações culturais da Companhia de Diamantes de Angola 2, 1948
- E. Vandendriessche “Sand Drawing versus String Figure Making: Geometric and Algorithmic Practices in Northern Ambrym, Vanuatu”, Indigenous Knowledge and Ethnomathematics Springer, 2022
- “Les dessins sur le sable du Nord de l’île d’Ambrym (Vanuatu) : une étude ethnomathématique” URL: https://www.ethnographiques.org/2022/Vandendriessche_DaSilva
- R.J. Wilson “Introduction to Graph Theory (4th ed.)” Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1996
Paper Prompts
Sign up for free to create and run prompts on this paper using GPT-5.
Top Community Prompts
Collections
Sign up for free to add this paper to one or more collections.
