One line in the
Mayan Calendar Article in posting #107 makes me think that the Mayans or their ancestors may have measured time before they could count.
One August 11, 3114 BCE, "the Sun was at its zenith at midday, and the Maya constellation of the Turtle (Orion) marked the nadir, or the Underworld."
The fact that they associated Orion with time probably means that they could measure time before they could count.
Modern stone age people, the Hadza in Africa, recon time with the changing shape of the moon. Their language has no words for numbers higher than three, so we know that they don't count to measure time. However, the leader of a group of Hadza kept an appointment with an outsider by noting the changing shape of the moon.
The outsider said, [When] "I arrived by Land Rover in the bush, there was [the leaders]'s son waiting for us. Apparently, [the leader] had noted the stages of the moon, and when he felt enough time had passed, he sent his son to the tree. I asked if he'd waited a long time for me. 'No,' he said. 'Only a few days."
National Geographic
A drawing in the tree of vision article shows how cave paintings at Lascaux may represent constellations. I was not able to post it here?? I'm not sure why.
Paleolithic Europeans, like the Mayans, may have used the Orion to judge the passing of time.
Tree of Vision
One theory, "based on the discovery of numerous dots and tracings superimposed on the paintings of bulls, aurochs and horses on the walls of Lascaux," claims "these correspond to the patterns of constellations–most notably the constellations of Taurus and Pleiades and the stars Aldeberan and Antares. She proposes most of the constellations are represented by paintings of animals, accurately depicting their coloring and coats during the corresponding seasons of the year."
Paleolithic people, like at Lascaux, and Neolithic people, like the Mayan ancestors, must have measured time before they could count.