Nara

A strip of wood unearthed during 2001 excavations at the site of the ancient Japanese capital city of Fujiwara-kyo is a far more sophisticated artifact than it appears at first glance. After more than two decades of careful analysis, experts from Japan’s Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties have proven that this object is approximately 1,300 years old, and that it contains figures that reveal it to have been part of a larger tablet inscribed with a detailed multiplication table. Oldest Multiplication Table in Japan As of now, this inscribed piece of wood is the oldest remnant from a multiplication table ever recovered on Japanese soil. Having been found in the ruins of the ancient Fujiwara Palace, a structure