:kuttaka:
The device of numeration has diverse roots and different substrata. Within the Vedic tradition, numbers are linked up with treatment of verse, with the structure of grammar; within the Greek tradition, music and proportions are pivotal; the Chinese, then, used their rods for calculating as well as for devination.
The eventual number system we are commonly working with, the decimal positional system, is the result of a long process of re-appropriation and transposition of these devices. Taking W. Burroughs's words seriously (1) -- language consists of mutating virus mechanisms -- numbers would be the foremost example of a migrating virus, leaving its characteristic imprints on everyday language and life.

:modulo:
The theory of numbers is, however, a much more modern phenomenon, of which the first intimations were worded in the 16th and 17th centuries, but gradually evolved into a coherent and powerful theory near the end of the 18th century.
As D.H. Lehmer remarked (2), inventing a new numerical notation, adds to our insight in higher arithmetic. Therefore, one could say that the inner structures or architectonic of numbers could only be studied after the complete appropriation (europeanisation) of the hindu-arabic ciphers.

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(1) William Burroughs (1970): The Electronic Revolution.
(2) D.H. Lehmer (1933): "Numerical Notations and Their Influence on Mathematics", Mathematics News Letter 7 (6), 8-12.