The houses we live in, the furniture we sit on, the clothes we wear – modern life is based on the human ability to measure the world and make things fit together. Many technical developments would be unthinkable without measurements. Today, metric systems are predominantly used for surveys around the world, with the meter as the base unit. This facilitates international exchange, and the decimal system is also easy to handle mathematically.
When such supraregional systems did not exist, the human body was used as a guide to capture spatial dimensions. This is how the units of measurement that had a physical reference point appeared. A well-known example is Elle. The model for this is the length of the human forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. The unit was already used in Mesopotamia and in ancient Egypt there was the royal cubit. Other well-known measurements are the foot and the span of the hand.
World Collection
For the study, which has just been published in the journal “Science”, the team led by Roope O. Kaaronen, from the University of Helsinki, compared and described body measurements from 186 current and past cultures and analyzed their practical application. The data come from the Human Relations Area Archives, for which ethnographic material has been collected since the 1950s by an international non-profit organization. Standard forms such as the British “foot” or “feet” were not included in the analysis.
According to the researchers, many old measurement methods coexisted for a long time with the new standards, some in the 20th century, some even today. The team speculates that “body measurements” may simply be more practical for certain applications. This is probably why they managed to develop and settle independently of each other in many places.
The most common measurements around the world are those related to the wingspan – in our latitude it corresponded to the fathom – the wingspan and the forearm. In addition to body-based measures of length, the researchers also found measures related to physical activity: for example, one day of walking for a given distance or one “day of tillage” for a given area.
practical use
“Body measurements” are mostly used for very specific applications, especially for building everyday objects. As an example, researchers cite the kayaks of the Yup’ik, people from Alaska. In the 19th century, the latter were oriented towards the body when building the rowing boat: For the length, they took two and a half times the span plus the length of the forearm with the hand closed in a fist.
When it comes to ski design, especially the length, in many places people are still guided by the owner’s body. A historical example mentioned in the study is the Finno-Ugric people of Karelia: a wingspan plus six wingspans was considered the ideal ski length in the early 20th century. The body is also often used as a reference for the design of weapons such as bows and arrows and clothing.
Ergonomic and practical
As the researchers point out, “body measurements” are often much more appropriate for ergonomic design than abstract units of measurement. Because then everyday objects are really made for the person who will use them later.
Furthermore, it is very practical to work with it on a daily basis – not least because the body is always at hand and is less bulky for some applications. For example, to measure the length or size of ropes and fishing nets, working with wingspans is much easier than struggling with a folding ruler.
Globalization needs standards
According to the researchers, these advantages may explain why people sometimes still use physical measurements even today, nearly five millennia after the first standardized systems existed.
However, the pressure for standardization has increased as countries and societies have become larger and more interconnected. Especially for today’s global economy and industry, imprecise rules are not helpful. It benefits from national standards, without which mass production would be unthinkable. As Kaaronen and company conclude, traditional measurement systems are therefore increasingly endangered, even though they are very practical for many things.