Bundles of Ethnomathematical Expertise Residing with Handicrafts, Occupations, and Other Activities Across Cultures

The ethnomathematics program is interested in the relations between mathematics and cultures and their implications for mathematical education. The program is rooted in an interdisciplinary set of theories that share a relativistic and constructivist view of the origin and development of knowledge. A brief overview of the history of the program allows us to tackle the tensions that arise in the first researches and the solutions proposed by various researchers with regard to the definition of mathematics, ethnomathematics, and other methodological issues. This chapter presents different ethnomathematical experiences in the context of handicrafts, occupations, and other activities across cultures, with the aim of overcoming the simplistic conception of ethnomathematics as the study of the mathematics of indigenous populations. It will be highlighted how mathematical techniques and procedures belonging to diverse activities of different cultures and distant locations can become very similar. A brief reflection on the importance of the context in mathematics education allows us to link these ethnomathematical results with the contextualization of mathematical concepts and practices in daily activities. So the contributions to mathematical education made by the results of these experiences will also be emphasized.