Standard weights and graduated rulers
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
Did the Harappans create the earliest standardised weights and precise rulers?
Independent discoveriesTechnology & engineering
Indian claim
Harappans used cubical chert weights in a fixed series (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, then 160, 200, 320, 640 units; the commonest weight is about 13.7 g) across a huge area, and graduated scales such as a Mohenjo-daro shell ruler and the Lothal ivory scale with divisions of about 1.7 mm.
Evidence for the Indian claim
- Thousands of weights from sites hundreds of kilometres apart match the same standard closely.
- The Lothal ivory scale has among the finest divisions known on any Bronze Age scale.
- Bricks at Harappan sites follow a fixed 1:2:4 ratio.
Commonly credited to
Egypt and Mesopotamia also had standard weights and cubit rods in the third millennium BCE.
Evidence for the other claim
- Mesopotamian and Egyptian weight standards and cubit rods are of similar age.
What historians and scientists say
Harappan weights and measures are among the most uniform and precise of the ancient world. Standard measurement grew up independently in several Bronze Age civilisations.