Cubits were a standard unit of length in sumeria egypt and other parts of the middle east long before anyone dreamed of an arbitrary decimal based measuring system. One which gained a certain universal nature was that of the egyptian cubit developed around 3000bc. The romans also introduced the mille passus 1000 paces or double steps the pace being equal to five roman feet 1480 mm. Your body can be used as a measuring tool when you dont have a measuring tape conveniently with you. Smoot was rolled head over heels by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the harvard bridge. There were unbelievably many different measurement systems developed in early times most of them only being used in a small locality.
The roman mile of 5000 feet 1480 m was introduced into england during the occupation. The length of a foot the width of a finger and the distance of a step were all accepted measurements. The roman foot 296 mm was divided into both 12 unciae inches 247 mm and 16 digits 185 mm. In the 14th century king edward ii of england ruled that 1 inch equalled 3 grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise. Of course the ultimate body part as measurement tool is the smoot as seen in google earth according to wikipedia the smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of an mit fraternity prank. Although its a nonstandard unit of measurement its conveniently with you all the time.
In 1958 oliver r. Eight body based units of measurement. The romans used this measurement and so can you. Before we had precise standardized units of measure such as meters and feet lengths and even ocasionally volumes were reckoned based on the average dimensions of human body parts. A more accurate way use your body parts to estimate length is to know your own measurements. Obtaining body measurements using a 3d body scanner is a rapidly evolving technology aimed at reducing the problem of ill fitting clothes because it can readily take many more body measurements than the manual methods to enable custom fitting apparel workman 1991since the 1980s there have been many types and models of body scanners developed vogt 2007 for different clothing applications.
The bible clearly details the measurements of noahs ark in cubits a unit of measure based on the length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. Based on the human body it was taken to be the length of an arm from the elbow to the extended fingertips. For an average adult male at least average as of a couple of millennia ago a cubit works out to about 18 inches 457cm. In ancient times the body ruled when it came to measuring. At first an inch was the width of a mans thumb. In body based units of measurement at interesting thing of the day i listed a few such historical units of measure which can still come in handy for rough approximations if you dont have a ruler or tape measure handy.
The width of your own palm the length of your own foot and so on. It might also help you remember the measurements because you have to use parts of your body instead of inches feet and yards. The very first examples revolve using body parts as a way of measuring length and height and stones for weight. These estimates are just that.
Gallery of History Of Measurement Using Body Parts
