The reader holds volume 3 of the Weight and value series in his hands. The two previous volumes dealt with ‘Weights and marketplaces from the Bronze Age to the Early Modern Period’ written by Lorenz Rahmstorf and Edward Startford (vol. 1),¹ ʻMerchants, measures and money – Understanding technologies of early trade in comparative perspective’ written by Lorenz Rahmstorf, Gojko Barjamovic, Nicola Ialongo (vol. 2).² Volume 1 of this series is about how the endeavour of recognising and applying early weights from Western Asia's Chalcolithic/Bronze Age to Northern Europe's Early Middle Ages is covered in the first section. The physical characteristics of marketplaces from the Bronze Age to the present is covered in the second section of the book within a worldwide context. Volume 2 offers historical case reports of how merchants organised and executed trading voyages, determined risk, expense, and possible profit, and computed and converted the worth of products. This volume in the second section discusses modern views and approaches on the origins and purposes of money, both before and after coinage was invented. The development of comprehensive value indices and the determination of the commercial value of commodities and services were made possible by the invention of balance scales circa 3000 BCE. It also made it possible for a particular group of commodities to function as money. This caused coinage to be created in the Eastern Mediterranean around 650 BCE.

Volume 3 of the series features balance weights from 20 Bronze Age sites in India (Harappan sites), Iraq, and Iran (Susa). The book contains the results of six years of research. The investigations were funded by the ERC-2014-CoG.ʻWEIGHTANDVALUE: Weight metrology and its economic and social impact on Bronze Age Europe, West and South Asia' [Grant no. 648055]. The book was produced with the assistance of 24 institutional groups in Iran, India, and France (Louvre). As a result, the volume presents more than 2000 weights, potential weights and other objects – mostly unpublished so far – from 20 Bronze Age sites in Iraq, Iran and India.

Nicola Ilango will guide us through the Bronze Age European weighing system in volume 4. Volume 5 about a weight-regulated system is now being prepared. These materials are stored in the Oriental Museum of Chicago. We can hope that we will see a detailed data of the collection of the museum in a well-illustrated proceeding. After that the editors of this series open for other early historical data with a focus on value and weight.

An introduction to the current research is provided in Chapter 1. Here, Ascalone presents the findings of his five years of research while taking the historical background into account. He cites pertinent research by C. F. Lehmann/Lehmann-Haupt and F. Hultsch. For fifty years, their research on the Greco-Roman world and Mesopotamian metrological series dominated the study of metrology. He provides information on Viedebantt's “Normzonen concept” and “Inductive metrology” (O. Viedebantt). We have the opportunity to learn about the rapid development of computer-based data methods that transformed the field of archaeology. He presents the past, when obtaining, exchanging, and assessing data was uncommon; in the present, this is regular routine. The “trans-disciplinary approach” of archaeological study on metrological studies is this volume's strongest point. Subsequently, the terminology and specific definitions are reviewed.

Chapter 2. is about “Typology.” Ascalone describes 27 different types of weights: ovoid, duck-shaped, frog-shaped, shell-shaped, fly-shaped, head of pig-shaped, sphere, ellipsoid with base and grooves, pebble, hand bag-shaped, cylinder, bi-conic, small column, pear shaped, egg-shaped, parallelpiped, discoid, cuboid, kudurru-shaped, hemisphere, cone, pyramid-shaped, irregular shape, clay sphendonoid, dome-shaped, trapezoid-shaped, rounded flat with hole. In this richly illustrated book we can find on this page a very detailed geographical distribution of types. On this map we can clearly follow the excavation areas as well.

“Material” is the topic of Chapter 3. Ascalone first notes the challenges in identifying and recognising various artefacts from ancient cultures. He suggests a few arbitrary subcategories. The material description included in the excavation notebooks is his primary and favoured method. Agate/carnelian/chalcedony/jasper, a group of microcrystalline quartz; limestone/calcite/marble/alabaster/, an altered sedimentary rock group; and chlorite/steatite/serpentine, soft dark green-grey secondary minerals found in metamorphic rocks, are the three macro-groups identified by Ascalone (p. 21). This page (p. 21) displays an accurate map showing the regional distribution of the materials. We learn from this chapter that the material groupings had a number of photo-catalogues, which are located in the appendix.

Susiana and Lower Mesoptamia are covered in Chapter 4. There is a map of Western Asia during the Bronze Age on page 35, the opening page of this chapter. This book discusses lower Mesopotamian sites that have weights. In addition, there are tables regarding the study findings from de Mecquenem's excavations, the comparative analysis of the stratigraphies from Susa (p. 36), and the typological and stratigraphic sequences at Susa (p. 38). Here are some statistics from Susa's quantrogramm analysis on the distribution of materials and forms (p. 69, 84, 85, 87). A comprehensive list of the Susa excavation results is included in another section of this chapter. An historical contextualization of Ur III and Old-Babylonian circumstances is provided at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 5 is about results about Iranian Highlands. The most remarkable information about Jiroft Valley. Very specific shapes were found in the Iranian Highlands in Jiroft Valley. We can also easily follow the excavation-regions on this map. For instance, a particular shape – a snake – was discovered in the Jiroft Valley of the Iranian Highlands (Ascalone, 2022, 246–255, Cat. No. 888–934). Jiroft's indigenous mythology was typified by the snake iconography.³ We can track the evolution of Jiroft civilization's style and method by looking at the weight figures. Understanding the pre-monetary economic structure of this region, as well as its cultural and historical features and the evolution of metalworking art, are just a few of the numerous ways in which this catalogue of weights is highly significant. The Jiroft civilization was unique in many ways. Over 4,000 years ago, this valley served as a significant crossroads: “This is a whole new Bronze Age civilization”.⁴ On page 93 there is a table about comparative stratigraphies on the Iranian Highlands. We can find here, just like in the previous chapter, cosine quntogram analysis (p. 95), figures on distribution of shapes from Iranian Highlands, form Jiroft Valley.

The Greater Indus Valley is covered in Chapter 6. A map of the Greater Indus Valley appears at the start of the chapter (p. 121). There are figures on the distribution of shapes from Rakhigarhi (p. 123), from Farmana (p. 125), from Naguada (p. 129), and on the distribution of shapes and materials from Shikarpa (p. 131), from Bagasra (p. 133). There are also figures on the distribution of weights, potential, and possible weights according to their archaeological context (p. 122). A distribution of the Dholvaira excavation region, the Harappan City, and the diachronic distribution of Dholavira's shapes and materials can be found on page 137.

The conclusions of six years' worth of research on Bronze Age balance weights from the Near East and South Asia are covered in Chapter 7. Twenty-five hundred specimens have been gathered, complete with photographic illustrations and comprehensive catalogues, or “plates”. A brief summary of the challenges and outcomes is included, together with the historical, archaeological, and temporal settings. This edition ends with a great plate and a thorough and comprehensive bibliography.

Weights' typological characteristics are conceptualized by Enrico Ascalone. Reconstructing new data on the oldest weighing operations and creating new historical narratives are two possible outcomes of this weight study. Socioeconomic and environmental processes could be monitored and comprehended thanks to the advancement of computer-based metrology data technologies in recent decades. From a historical perspective, we can observe a complicated relationship between the ancient weighing systems and the geographic placements of typological shapes. In a well-illustrated procedure, we can hope to see comprehensive data about the museum's collection.

With the aid of this volume, we may discover more about the diversity of the Bronze Age weighing and trade systems. The extensive appendix includes photographic pictures, a thorough catalogue, and an explanation of the engraved weights by Jan Tavernier. It can be said that this sequence of the book is the greatest asset. These balance weights and many others here – I dare say – are works of art. In a deeper meaning, it was a goal of a “subject” in an ancient, and material culture: not just to be enough and fit for usage but to be an esthetical phenomenon.

In summary, the fact that numerous institutional entities contributed to the production of this book is its greatest strength. This volume by Enrico Ascalone, which provides a wealth of current archaeological research data from the ancient Near Eastern culture, is enriching the study of Bronze Age weights. These institutional ties assured the relevance of the data and conclusions of the current investigation.