Zero was invented to fill a void in numbering systems lacking placeholders. Instead of omitting the tens place for “nothing,” the concept of zero solved this issue. Roman numerals tackled this by using X or C to represent ten and a hundred. Similarly, knots were historically used for accounting, with each knot on a string indicating the number of items in a container. When using a numbering system with zero, grouping objects into recognizable shapes became vital, with counting the number of same-type shapes representing the amount. This led to the possibility of “many” even if only one shape existed. A clever system indeed.
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/352455/why-is-zero-plural