Really inspired to have stopped by your article. I was in a constant search for the origin of number system for the past two weeks and this article helped in connecting the dots. Learning the history of any subject brings clarity, thank you for posting this article Chris.

However I'm would still like to know more, about the column wise segregation developed by Babylonians. You've clearly mentioned "The how", But i believe this technique was not developed out of the bloom. Is there any archeological findings or a detailed history that you missed out to explain. Coz, i feel a sudden jump in the story of the progress of the system.

Babylonians developed symbol for every numbers, till 60. But then, they dramatically created this positional system. Sorry but i feel a gap here.