The Long Count calendar developed in south-central required the use of zero as a place-holder within its vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. A shell glyph——was used as a zero symbol for these Long Count dates, the earliest of which (on Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas) has a date of 36 B.C.E. Since the eight earliest Long Count dates appear outside the homeland, it is assumed that the use of zero in the Americas predated the Maya and was possibly the invention of the . Indeed, many of the earliest Long Count dates were found within the Olmec heartland, although the fact that the Olmec civilization had come to an end by the fourth century B.C.E., several centuries before the earliest known Long Count dates, argues against the zero being an Olmec invention. , 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and complex numbers, as well as other algebraic structures., What is 'Zero' 0? | Mathematics Grade 1 | PeriwinkleThis short video on zero will tell you why its important.Watch our other videos:English Stories for Kids:.