Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2021 Jan 20;16(1):e0240462. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240462. eCollection 2021.
The origins of money and the formulation of coherent weight and measurement systems are amongst the most significant prehistoric developments of the human intellect. We present a method for detecting perceptible standardization of weights and apply this to 5028 Early Bronze Age rings, ribs, and axe blades from Central Europe. We calculate the degree of uniformity on the basis of psychophysics, and quantify this using similarity indexes. The analysis shows that 70.3% of all rings could not be perceptibly distinguished from a ring weighing 195.5 grams, indicating their suitability as commodity money. Perceptive weight equivalence is demonstrated between rings, and a selection of ribs and axe blades. Co-occurrence of these objects evidences their interchangeability. We further suggest that producing copies of rings led to recognition of weight similarities and the independent emergence of a system of weighing in Central Europe at the end of the Early Bronze Age.
货币的起源和连贯的重量与度量衡体系的制定是人类智力最重要的史前发展之一。我们提出了一种检测重量可感知标准化的方法，并将其应用于来自中欧的 5028 个早期青铜时代的戒指、肋骨和斧头刀片。我们根据心理物理学计算了均匀度，并使用相似指数对此进行量化。分析表明，所有戒指中有 70.3%无法与重 195.5 克的戒指明显区分开来，这表明它们适合作为商品货币。戒指之间以及一些肋骨和斧头刀片之间存在可感知的重量等价性。这些物品的共存证明了它们的可互换性。我们进一步认为，制作戒指的复制品导致了对重量相似性的认识，并在早期青铜时代末期独立出现了一个在中欧称重的系统。
