Carolly, I have researched such concepts as measurements, using various sources. I've also found an excellent book called "Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things." This is the neatest book I've ever found, and tells the origins of so many things, including holidays! Let's take a look at the "old time measurements." Imagine my size 10 shoe next to my wife's shoe. Imagine my hand compared to a woman's hand, etc. These measurements might have worked ok if the same person functioned as a "measuring stick" for the entire life of a project. However, if different people with different body sizes gather together, you suddenly have items of different sizes, and conflicts arise. I do believe this disparity in size of body parts was overcome by at least one monarch claiming the size of his foot or body part(s) as the standard of measurement. With that in mind, I won't swallow the concept of using ancient measuring methods as a viable alternative today.