In Russia, the Russian system of measures was used to determine the area, length, weight, volume, distance.
About system
The dimensional system was based on a person and his physical abilities. For example, a measure of weight is how much he can lift onto his shoulders.
Throughout history, the system has changed several times. New values were added to it or existing ones underwent changes. For example, a milestone, which in the 19th century was equated to 500 seedlings, according to the law of 1649 was twice as long - 1000 seedlings.
In 1899, there was a transition to the metric system of measures.
"It is necessary to drink in moderation"
A fairly common expression. But for everyone there is a measure. A glass is enough for some, another will drink until it falls. But the word "measure" has several meanings. One of them is the direct amount, which is optimal for some situation or person. But she has a very specific expression. Then 1 measure is how much? It is comparable to eight Garnets or one quadruple. In the modern sense - 26.24 liters.
Upon learning this, many say that the ancestors loved to drink. But the measure was not intended for wine and not for liquid. She belonged to the category of loose, in particular, bread measures.
How to measure the liquid
The barrel was considered the largest wine measure. How much is this? 1 barrel contained 40 buckets. If you translate this volume into liters, you get a value of about 491.96 liters.
The bucket was another common measuring instrument; it was also a container. It could be made of wood, metal or leather. Traditionally, it had the shape of a cylinder with a handle so that it could be lifted and worn. It was believed that a woman could carry two buckets at once. Often for convenience, a rocker was used. One bucket had a volume equal to 12 liters, in rare cases - 15 liters.
Another unit of volume in this system was a bottle. Despite the fact that there were two of them - for vodka and for wine, only wine was recognized as dimensional. It was approximately 0.75-0.77 liters, which, in turn, was equal to the sixteenth of a bucket or three glasses.
Shkalik, damask and half-dam served, among other things, for measuring alcohol poured in taverns. First of all, it is a vodka measure. How much is it in liters? In one scale there were 61.5 ml. Damask contained 20 scales and was equal to approximately 1.23 liters. The scale also meant dishes in which vodka was poured in drinking establishments.
What was the length measured
In Russia, sazhen was the most prevalent. But it can be called, rather, a general category, since there were a large number of fathoms. Each of them had not only its own name, but also its own size. If we talk about the most commonly used measures - how much is in the metric system? The longest was the oblique fathom. It was defined as the distance from the toe of the foot to the fingers of the extended arm of the opposite arm. In the metric system, it was 2.48 m. “Fathom sazhen” was equal to the distance from the fingertips of one hand to the other, which were spaced apart or 1.76 m. “Tsarskaya” was equal to 197.4 m, “treasury” - 217 , 6 m. In this case, the fathoms did not correlate with each other, did not have any multiplicity.
Based on the fact that each person has individual physical data, special wooden “warehouses” and ropes were used to build, separate land and measure the required amount of goods.
How to determine the weight
The need to establish weight arose due to trade relations. There were several of the most common categories. One of the famous ones is a pound of 16.38 kg. But very often the hryvnia was used. How much was this measure of weight in kilograms? She was 410 gr. or 96 spools.
The hryvnia was used to designate two quantities - money and weight. It had the widest application among traders. The hryvnia was used to measure a wide variety of products. And also for silver and gold. The pound has replaced the hryvnia.
Hryvnia was usually used in retail. With the large weight categories used in the wholesale segment, Berkovets was used. Most often used to weigh wax or honey. The name of this weight category has an interesting origin. It came from the name of the island of Bjerk. Merchant ships were leaving in his direction, on which barrels of wax were placed. Its maximum weight, which a person could roll onto a ship alone, is how much? The measure was 163.8 kg. Mentions about Berkovtsa were found in documents of the XII century.
The measuring system in Russia was quite complex. It had many gradations. In addition, a unit of measure with the same name could have different expressions in different areas.