The Indus civilisation used standardised weights so precise and consistent they worked across a million square kilometres.
Harappan cubical chert weights follow a regular ratio system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 …) and are remarkably uniform across far-flung cities.
— Indus civilisation chert weights (c. 2600–1900 BCE)
Standardised units of measurement — the basis of fair trade and metrology.
A genuine, defensible parallel.
Across hundreds of Indus sites, archaeologists find the same carefully cut cube weights in a consistent binary-then-decimal progression, accurate to a fraction of a gram, alongside standardised bricks and rulers. That uniformity over a vast area implies a shared system of measurement and trade regulation — an early triumph of metrology.
This is well-documented and needs no inflation. The honest unknowns are political: we don't know how the standard was enforced because the script is undeciphered. But standardised, precise weights and measures across a Bronze-Age civilisation is a genuine and quietly astonishing achievement.