"We are concerned here with methodical digging for systematic information."
Sir Mortimer Wheeler, at Mohenjo-daro
Trade between people depends on a uniform set of weights and measures that can be used by both sides of the transaction to ensure that the amount obtained or handed over is correct. The first such standard weights were developed in the Indus Valley Civilization of southern Asia. This civilization was among the most advanced of its time—equal to any in the Near East or Egypt—and boasted large cities, such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. The system its merchants or accountants devised consisted of cubes of chert, a crystalline form of silica. These cubes were organized in series, doubling in weight from one unit to two units to four to eight and on to sixty-four units. The
next block weighed 160 units, the next 320, and then proceeded in multiples of 160.The smallest units were used by jewelers to weigh tiny amounts of gold and other precious metals and .gems. The largest units were so large they were lifted with the help of a rope, and were used to weigh grain and timber.
In Mesopotamia at much the same time, natural produce such as grain was used as a comparison, but grain can vary in size and weight, making it an unreliable measure. A uniform system was thus invented, using local stones carved into the shape of a sleeping goose. The multiples of sleeping geese were surprisingly effective in regulating quantity.
