07 · OBJECT · MEASUREMENT

Weights

The stone that made exchanges comparable

The weights followed repeated measures that allowed quantities to be compared in exchanges.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of The stone that made exchanges comparable, Indus Valley and Gujarat, ca. 2600–1900 BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Carefully worked stone weights appear in numerous Harappan settlements and respond to repeated series. Measuring allowed distinct goods to be made comparable and agreements to be repeated at a distance.

Do not turn them into a modern bank. Their precision is evidence of shared practices; how they were verified or who controlled them depends on contexts that rarely survive.

Stone cubes followed repeated series and could be combined to reach larger quantities. Comparability reduced disputes when distinct goods changed hands.

A weight only functions within a shared practice: balance, counterweight, training and social acceptance complete the object.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Indus archaeology recognises standardised series of weights, many cubic, during the mature urban phase; their antecedents appear already in earlier phases. Interpretation and caution: That a single authority imposed the entire Indus metrology is a possibility, not a necessary conclusion. Expanded documentation: Cubic flint weights appear in excavations at Harappa and form part of the mature shared repertoire. Expanded interpretation and caution: Their ancient names are unknown, and it is not known that a single authority controlled the entire metrology.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Location: Indus Valley and Gujarat
Material: Carved stone
Context: Measurement and exchange
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Frequent form: Carefully finished stone cubes
Principle: Series of repeatable values
Documentary coverage: 3 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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ca. 2600–1900 BCE

Weights

Indus civilisation

Date range for the system of weights, not a year-specific date for each example.

Current record

Stone19 dated objects

13 / 19In the centre: Weights

Also connected, without a comparable date (10)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Engraved stonePrehistory · Before ≈39,000 cal BP
Four gardens and waterAchaemenid Persia · 6th century BCE
Kumbi SalehMande Worlds · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries
Soma stonesVedic and later Indian worlds · Rigvedic strata; later ritual tradition
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
The Thracian HorsemanThracians · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE
Tichitt wallsMande Worlds · II–I millennia BCE
Writing with gapsGaramantes · Diverse chronologies

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Measuring and weighing

Susa accounting bulla · 3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date · Sumer
Nippur Cubit · III millennium BCE · usually towards 2650 BCE; approximate · Sumer
Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation — You are viewing
Maya's cubit · 1330–1295 BCE · end of the 18th dynasty · Ancient Egypt

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

The altar cord · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions · Vedic and later Indian worlds

Accounting

Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Susa accounting bulla · 3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date · Sumer
Ivory tablets · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Jemdet Nasr · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation — You are viewing
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Linear B · c. 1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Maya's cubit · 1330–1295 BCE · end of the 18th dynasty · Ancient Egypt
Rations for women and children · Towards 509–493 BCE · Achaemenid Persia

Exchange and trade

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation — You are viewing
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The series is recognised by comparing many stones

The study published in Purātattva analyses the masses grouped by classes and observes that the intervals change between the smaller and the larger weights. The former respond to binary or octal relationships, while the latter show a decimal component. Standardisation is reconstructed statistically, with variations within each class that may include wear. This procedure allows passage from an isolated cubic stone to a system of equivalences. No need to read an inscription on each weight to recognise repeated regularities in the assemblage.

Research · Purātattva 37 · Harappan WeightsAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

REGIONAL AREA

Indus Valley and GujaratPunjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gujarat within an urban network. The footprint marks the indicative center of the area, not a border or an exact point.

Sources and references

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Weights

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Weights

Swanscombe handaxe

Engraved ochre from Blombos

Before the San

Before the name San

Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe

Grinding stone from Çakmaktepe

Warka Mask

Cylinder seal

Uruk Vase

Narmer Palette

Worshiper of Tell Asmar

Statue of Ebih-Il

Weights

Lamassu of Khorsabad

Ashurbanipal Hunt

Heads on the wall

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar

The statue was the urn

The inscription of Pistiros

A closer look

The series is recognised by comparing many stones

Location and territory

Sources and references

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