Machine translation:
“But the most remarkable object brought to light by these excavations is a nearly rectangular bone strip, which served as a measuring rule for a Roman foot. Slightly more than half of it has survived, and—as can be seen here—it bears incisions on both sides (Fig. 6a–d). It measures 170 millimeters in length and 18 millimeters in width, and is divided into 20 sections formed by four groups of five. At the third line—starting from the intact end—a small triangle has been added, with its vertex pointing downward. Similarly, a like triangle has been added at the fifth line. At the eighth line, two triangles formed of dots have been added; they share the dividing line as a common base, but their vertices point in opposite directions—an arrangement that serves as an indicator. At the 148-millimeter mark—which constitutes exactly half of the 296 millimeters corresponding to the Roman foot—the significance of the divisional lines (each representing a *digitus*, or finger-breadth) becomes clear. There is also a notch. On the reverse side of this same measuring instrument (Fig. 6e), two small lines—each consisting of three dots—can be seen positioned at the 0.07-meter mark. This indicates that the reverse side of our instrument also served to measure the Roman foot, albeit divided into only four sections. Two bone strips found at Pompeii are quite similar to this one, as they, too, represent the Roman half-foot. However, those examples are fitted with small bronze plates at their ends and feature hinges designed to allow the other half of the measuring rule to fold back upon itself—much like a modern folding ruler.”
A quick google would not reveal an image of the Pompeii ruler but when I find one you know I’ll come back and post it.
The Ostia specimen was found in the excavation of the guard house:
Liv Mariah Yarrow 