Trade and early exchanges in prehistoric societies

By The Lucian Blaga University from Sibiu with the cooperation of EURO INNOVANET srl

Trade has always been a very important activity both for human survival and for the establishment of relationships among cultures and people.

It is likely that a primitive kind of commerce started with the economy of the gift, which linked the earliest human groups, as anthropological evidence indicate with regards to the contemporary primitive cultures.

Prof. Renfrew tried to explain the meaning of trade as a concept: for early times of existence of full-time professional traders can sometime be documented, it can certainly not be assumed for prehistoric societies. Professional trade and commerce was probably absent from most prehistoric communities. Trade is therefore to be understood in its widest sense: the reciprocal traffic, exchange, or movement of materials or goods through peaceful human agency. The reciprocity cannot always be demonstrated but it can often be assumed, when booty, tribute, or tax seems unlikely. When goods are given something is received in return.

The development of human culture passes through relevant commercial activities (involving both tools and basic materials for the construction of tolls for everyday life, and prestigious items like jewels, and other prestigious objects); mention should be done to the importance of the Silk Road, which allowed the exchange of goods from China to India, Persia, and the Roman Empire, and from those countries to China.

It is common opinion that the history of long-distance commerce started from about 150,000 years ago, as some scholar's state. The first human exchanges took place in the form of the barter; this early kind of ''commerce'' lasted for several millenniums, being still practiced by contemporary tribes.

The beginning of trade originated with the start of communication, in prehistoric times. It is sure that prehistoric people had numerous exchange relationships. Almost all kind of objects may be considered as results of trade or exchange, either as raw materials which was to be processed locally, or as ready made objects.

As an occupation which linked together long distance settlements, trade was closely related to one of the most important  elements of sustenance – the river.

Anthropologists have defined three modes of exchange; reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange.

In archaeological excavation usually are found some object that can enter in the area of exchange or trade:

-flaked-stone artefacts and stone used for axes and other objects, very common and often made from materials that do not occur locally, so we can trace the origin and, sometime, the trade way could be determined.

Hand axe, bifacial. Middle Paleolithic, Mousterian Culture. Brukenthal National Museum.

-ceramics is well preserved during time so we have a lot of them in archaeological excavations. Some communities trade them for special characteristics but mainly came into trade because of the content who could be transported with them. Because of each culture fashion the ceramic usually is personalised and it became easily to recognise it when exchange occurs between different cultures, on huge distances.It is harder to determine exchange inside the same cultural area but with chemical analyses help it could be traced too.

-metal artefacts (cooper, gold, iron and tin)- are easier to be traced in trade because the row materials are rare and easily to determine the source of finite objects. The shape of them is fashionable and the trade areas could be draw easily. Some artefacts could be easily travel for long distances across Europe or Near East.

- obsidian, amber, glass, bitumen and spondylus are other goods which gave us important information regarding exchange mechanism for the prehistory because of their rarity of sources but, in the same time the widely distribution of finite works.

Literature: Robert H. Tykot-Trade and exchange, in ancient Europe; Encyclopedia of the Barbarian world, 8000 BC- AD 1000, vol I. The Mesolithic to Cooper Age (c. 8000-2000 BC), 2004: 65-71.

Colin Renfrew-Trade and Culture Process in European Prehistory. Current Anthropology 10, 1969: 15-169.

Luca, Sabin Adrian - Preistoria generală (La prehistoire generale). Alba Iulia, Ed. Altip, 1999