Ancient Metrology

Careful consideration of the proportions of the Stonehenge sarsen circle, including the observance of the presence of a possible approximation of the Harris-Stockdale Megalithic Foot (HSMF) along with other more conventionally acknowledge ancient units of measurement, implies a remarkable network of very carefully chosen units of measurement and applications. One notable function of this convergence of ancient units of measurement appears to be the storage and retrieval of astronomical data concerning planetary and lunar cycles.

L'analyse de la construction en bois à Bibracte a permis d'observer une réelle standardisation de l'architecture et des formes des bâtiments. L'emploi d'un système de mesure est attesté, ainsi que le respect de certains canons dans la conception et les dimensions des ossatures. L'étude des projets architecturaux originels à partir des vestiges conservés permet de définir un nombre limité de modèles employés de façon systématique dans l'habitat. Ils fournissent ainsi des données qualitatives et quantitatives pour le calcul du volume approximatif de bois nécessaire à l'édification de chaque structure. Ces estimations pourront ensuite être considérées en fonction des différentes hypothèses de densité et d'évolution chronologique de l'habitat. Associées à des analyses dendrologiques, elles permettront aussi de raisonner en termes de ressource exploitée et d'impact de ce système économique sur le territoire.

(Genesis 6: 13-17) After that God said to Noah: "I have decided to put an end to all flesh, because the earth is full of violence on account of them, so I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth. Make for yourself an ark from resinous wood. You will make compartments in the ark and cover it with tar inside and outside. This is how you will make it: The ark should 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. You will make a window for light for the ark, one cubit from the top. You should put the entrance of the ark its side and make it with a lower deck, a second deck, and a third deck. "As for me, I am going to bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy from under the heavens all flesh that has breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish".

This work is based upon a sixteenth century house located on the Ribeira de Santarém. The study includes the urban situation, the architecture, and the processes of construction, and concludes with a systematisation of the type of buildings inserted on urban plots with narrow façade as well as a description of their characteristic elements.
The enlargement of ground floor houses, implanted in medieval plots, gave rise to a type of building in the XVI and XVII century that was well adapted to the traders and marketeers with a shop or business premises on the ground floor and habitation on the upper floors. The ground floor has two doors, making available the upper spaces in line with the shop or central in the façade. The door of the habitation is more restricted and the stair develops rises on this alignment. On the ground floor, a door-opening establishes an interior connection.

Como instrumentos de control dirigidos sobre los oficiales públicos que acababan de abandonar dicho cargo, los juicios de residencia contienen en su interior información relativa a numerosos ámbitos en los que aquellos tuvieron competencias administrativas. Uno de ellos fue el metrológico, en el cual la tarea fundamental de sus responsables era la de asegurar la correcta adecuación de todas las medidas del término, tanto públicas como, sobre todo, privadas. El objetivo del presente trabajo es el de analizar los desórdenes metrológicos que se deducen de la gestión de pesos y medidas en las ciudades y villas gallegas en la Edad Moderna.

El objetivo de este trabajo es registrar la geometría del edificio medieval del Corral del Carbón de Granada para posteriormente proceder al análisis metrológico y parametrización de sus dimensiones. El levantamiento se ha realizado mediante tecnología escáner láser 3D complementado con modelos fotogramétricos de la portada y su mocárabe. Se adopta la premisa metrológica de que toda medida se compone con lados y diagonales de cuadrado antropométrico, lo que permite reconstruir las aparentes trazas del edificio. En este caso es una cuadrícula casi regular con el módulo de métrica Nazarí 2 de 182 cm como patrón cuadrado repetitivo, y que también adopta composiciones dinámicas en distintos elementos representativos. Sorprende la curvatura de las galerías, y se detectan partes añadidas con distinta métrica. Los resultados animan a implantar los estudios antropométricos del patrimonio como fase de investigación histórica inmediatamente posterior al registro de su geometría, y previa a la modelización eBIM./The purpose of this work is to record the geometry of the medieval building of The Corral del Carbon, of Granada and then proceed to metrological and parameterization analysis of its dimensions. The survey was carried out using a 3D laser scanner technology complemented with photogrammetric models of the facade and its muqarnas. The metrological premise is adapted so that any measure is composed with sides and diagonals of anthropometric square, which allows for reconstruction of traces of the building. In this case it is an almost regular grid design with the 182 cm Nazarí-2 metric Module as a repetitive square pattern, and which also adopts dynamic compositions in different representative elements. The curvature of the galleries is surprising, and also detected, were parts that had been added with different metrics. The results encourage the implementation of the anthropometric heritage studies, as a historical research phase, immediately after the recording of its geometry, and prior to eBIM modeling.

The aim and scope of the present work is not to recount in detail the history of the Megalithic Yard nor the controversy surrounding it, but to briefly re-examine some key arguments concerning the validity of its existence and some of the specific critiques that have been aimed at it. The possible importance of Thom's work in a somewhat broader sense is also considered.

This paper is based upon the complete metrology chapter from my book "Early World Coins" published in 2009.  It is however a second revised version - now with multiple changes - put to the web via Academia.edu in May 2020.  It remains a holistic set of best guesses, concerning how important early metrological systems were linked through time.  Copies of the complete 2009 work on paper are still available.  Please write to info@earlyworldcoins.com for further details if interested.

This working paper is intended to be an overview on the known marked ingots of metal, especially silver, and their use before the spread of coinage in VII century B.C. The purpose of this work is to discuss about the differences between marked metal and coins.

Au 18e siècle, les systèmes de mesure (longueurs, poids, capacités, monnaies) sont complexes. De plus, ils varient d’un pays à l’autre, d’une région à l’autre, d’une ville à l’autre, d’une corporation à l’autre. Le chapitre examine quelques tentatives faites à cette époque pour faciliter les calculs monétaires et métrologiques. On y analyse plusieurs sortes de tables numériques et graphiques conçues pour aider les citoyens, en particulier ceux qui étaient peu instruits en arithmétique, à gérer leurs affaires quotidiennes. Ces tables sont autant d’instruments à exploiter dans l’enseignement d’aujourd’hui, à l’école et au collège, pour aborder dans un contexte historique motivant les questions de numération et de mesure, pour introduire des changements de cadre entre arithmétique et géométrie, et pour favoriser une démarche d’investigation.

-> link www.pedesconverter.com


The aim of this project is to propose a web application (PedesConverter) dedicated to convert ancient measures into modern ones. The converter is based on data from scientific bibliography regarding greek and roman measures. There have been used several sources: literary, archaeological, epigraphic in order to better define values and equivalences.

The idea was first presented in 2016 in Catania, during the OKOA (Open Knowledge Open Art) Workshop and the app has been developed in 2020.

The source cod of this project is on GitHub.
For further information, make suggestions or report errors, please feel free to contact as at info@pedesconverter.com.