Explores the archaeological evidence for the development of measuring activities in numerous ancient societies and the implications of these discoveries.

Introduction Colin Renfrew and Iain Morley; Part I. Number: Counting, Mathematics, and Measure: 1. Conceptualising quantification before settlement: activities and issues underlying the conception and use of measurement Iain Morley; 2. Measurement in navigation: conceiving distance and time in the Neolithic Helen Farr; 3. The token system of the ancient Near East: its role in counting, writing, the economy and cognition Denise Schmandt-Besserat; 4. Grasping the concept of number: how did the sapient mind move beyond approximation? Lambros Malafouris; 5. Numerical cognition and the development of 'zero' in Mesoamerica John Justeson; 6. Recording measure(ment)s in the Inka Khipu Gary Urton; Part II. Materialising the Economy: 7. Measuring by weight in the late Bronze Age Aegean: the people behind the measuring tools Anna Michailidou; 8. The concept of weighing during the Bronze Age in the Aegean, the Near East and Europe Lorenz Rahmstorf; 9. Measuring the Harappan world: insights into the Indus order and cosmology J. Mark Kenoyer; Part III. Dimensions and Belief: 10. Architectural measurements in the Indus cities: the case study of Mohenjo-Daro Michael Jansen; 11. Teothuacan City layout as a cosmogram: preliminary results of the 2007 measurement unit study Saburu Sugiyama; 12. Aztec dimensions of holiness John Clark; 13. Establishing direction in early Egyptian burials and monumental architecture: measurement and the spatial link with the 'other' Kate Spence; Part IV. Calendar and Cosmology: 14. The measurement of time and distance in the heavens above Mesopotamia, with brief reference made to other ancient astral sciences David Brown; 15. Evolution of the calendar in Shang China Mark Lewis; 16. The measure of time in Meso-America: from Teotihuacan to the Maya Anthony Aveni; 17. Measuring time, sacred space, and social place in the Inca Empire Charles Stanish; 18. Measuring time in the European Neolithic? The function and meaning of Central European circular enclosures Peter Biehl; Part V. The Spirituality of Measure: 19. The roots of spirituality and the limits of human mensuration F. LeRon Shults; 20. Worldview, measurement and 'the roots of spirituality' Jeremy Begbie.