I strongly recommend this book, it's a really fun read. It explores different ways of measuring time and items used over centuries in various cultures. It clarifies why the invention of zero was such a big deal, and why latin numerals looked like letters (same reasons as runes! They were trivial to carve on measuring sticks). Heaps of trivia! This should be a mandatory book at schools, it explains how development of mathematics affected our life, with numerous examples.
More on topic, the book makes a good point how base 60 came to be. It appeared when two natural bases merged: base 12 and base 10. Base 12 is natural, because you can conveniently count to 12 using fingers of one hand. To do that, you use the thumb. Notice that each of your remaining fingers consists of 3 segments. 4 fingers left * 3 segments = 12.
Base 60 allows cultures using bases 12 and 10 to coexist. It's the least common multiple. Naturally, it ALSO made it easier to avoid fractions.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0747597162/ref=oh_details...
The book author declares the Babylonians had a base 60 system. some native cultures have none at all. (well 1 and many)