Page 33

        Unit of Measurement

While premature at this stage, a note is opportune about the linear unit of measurement used at Castel del Monte. Scholars have speculated on the palm, the Roman foot, the cubit, etc. These are all based on presumptive adaptations of historically known units of measurement, but no direct evidence.

This study offers an opportunity to discover the unit of measurement at Castel del Monte. A full analysis must wait for the completion of the Plant Modified Design, and then the measurement study.

While premature to say it, this unit of measurement turns out to be the foot, nearly equal to the modern foot. This is not a surprise given the Germanic origin of the modern foot, the northern-European influence on the architecture of this castle, and the Germanic root of the King.

Evidence is desirable to support this finding. It is expectable that in the many stone blocks and features that make up this edifice, the architect and the stone cutters may have left an indication of this unit of measurement. Most likely this will be the case for major features that had no geometric connection and were determined heuristically.

Candidates for this are the dividing wall thickness and the height of the footing cap stones.