As in the case of the Danes, the Norwegians' earliest standards of measure can be derived from their ship burials. The 60-Norwegian-feet-long Kvalsund ship (18.8 m; 61.8 ft) was built ca. 700 AD and differs from the Danish boats less than it does from the Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune ships which all date from ca. 800 AD. Thwarts are typically spaced about 3 Norwegian feet (0.94 m; 3.1 ft) apart. In 1541, an alen in Denmark and Norway was defined by law to be the Sjælland alen. Subsequently, the alen was defined by law as 2 Rhine feet from 1683. From 1824, the basic unit was defined as a fot being derived from astronomy as the length of a one-second pendulum times 12/38 at a latitude of 45°. The metric system was introduced in Norway in 1875, with Norway being one of the original signatories of the meter convention.

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