It's generally understood that the theorem, and in particular the 1/1/2 and 3/4/5 integral triangles were known prehistorically and independently 'discovered' i

It's generally understood that the theorem, and in particular the 1/1/2 and 3/4/5 integral triangles were known prehistorically and independently 'discovered' in several places. It's not possible to know what the earliest recorded statement was, because we only have tiny fragments (more commonly, fragments of copies of fragments of later documentation of oral traditions) of what actually was recorded that long ago. Finding such a statement only says that its the earliest we're aware of, and even then its always contingent on a variety of factors. These sorts of discussions always seem to devolve into "10,000 generations ago, someone who lived near where some of my ancestors later lived might have known more mathematics than people who lived near where your ancestors lived." [The 'That means I'm better than you.' is usually not explicit] Which is boring.