Archaeology of trade

The archaeology of trade and exchange is a sub-discipline of archaeology that identifies how material goods and ideas moved across human populations. The terms “trade” and “exchange” have slightly different connotations: trade focuses on the long-distance circulation of material goods; exchange considers the transfer of persons and ideas.

One part of archaeology considers pre-modern societies. Markets, currency, craft production, ownership and concepts such as buying and selling had different meanings in those societies. Earlier economies were strongly defined by religious, ethnic and geographic constraints. Exchange could be used to strengthen social bonds instead of creating wealth. The archaeology of trade therefore includes the transfer of ideas and social practices in addition to the exchange of physical goods.

The archaeology of trade and exchange considers how trade influenced social development and power structures.

The theory and practice of the archaeology of trade and exchange have been influenced by several important schools of thought.

The field of political economy deals with the interplay between political institutions and economic activity. This interdisciplinary field has contributions from economics, political science and sociology. Archaeologists who study political economy focus on how political structure, leadership and administration affect economic activity and how the economy can affect the strength and organization of political institutions.

Economic anthropology is the study of the social context of economic transactions to explore the varied connections between culture and economy. Fields of research in economic anthropology include exchange, gift-giving and forms of currency. The study of economic anthropology also includes non-capitalist societies.

Important contributors to the field are listed below.

philosopher and economist Karl Marx influenced the fields of political economy and economic anthropology. His ideas on labor, modes and means of production and social class related to the frameworks used to understand the creation and exercise of power. Anthropologists used Marx’s ideas to provide perspective on archaeological and anthropological data. Marx’s theories on how the production and consumption of goods relate to social and political power were useful to those studying the evolution of trade and exchange in ancient societies.

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