Trade in the Ancient World
Added 2021-06-24 15:50:43 +0000 UTCYou may be aware of the intriguing sherd of Samian ware discovered at the Iron Age settlement in Cornwall that we will be digging this year. What on earth was it doing there?
In this general discussion, Tim Taylor and Helen Geake ponder over trade in the ancient world. We know it was happening to some extent. But how might it have worked in practice? How established were international trade networks? What happened before the introduction of coinage? And what can Helen tell us about sources of Alum?
New scientific techniques are helping to shed light on some of these questions, while other answers remain more enigmatic...
This is an open debate so, as usual, we welcome your input in the comments section below.
Comments
Saffron. I grew up on Cornish Saffron cake. A Minoan connection perhaps?
Simon Hooper
2021-07-31 16:31:14 +0000 UTCFascinating! Thank you for linking this to modern day and a "post-money" world, Helen. Lots to think about.
Kristna Evans
2021-07-23 19:02:41 +0000 UTCVery interesting talk. I belong to a Facebook Group with a lot of sailors. Sampson Boat Co Facebook page. I asked Helen’s question about the sailing from Israel to Cornwall. There were a number of answers. Most thought it a doable sail. They also pointed out this story about a ship wreck. The iron-age ships were quite sophisticated and easily capable of the trip. It is also possible there was some trade in goods like tin up the Loire River and down the Rhone through France. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/23/oldest-intact-shipwreck-thought-to-be-ancient-greek-discovered-at-bottom-of-black-sea
Andrew Zimbel
2021-07-02 23:10:27 +0000 UTCDear Professor Geake. I couldn't help but notice the painting on the wall to your right. Is it a Lee Godie? If it is, then you must know that she was an "outsider" artist living in Chicago. I live in Chicago. My first wife and I had one of her paintings. Thank you for the discussion. I am very interested in trade during the post-Roman period in Britain. Have you read Chris Wickham's Framing the Middle Ages? It is excellent. He discussed trade and trade networks throughout. All for now. Thank you and Tim again for an excellent discussion.
Timothy Herwig
2021-06-30 20:36:41 +0000 UTCAnother excellent interview with Helen Geake. Thank you and “More Please…”
Michael Fortson
2021-06-27 08:01:21 +0000 UTCTrade is one of the great levelers of human civilization. Only recently, for instance, have archaeologists and historian come to appreciate the role of copper in pre-Columbian North America, and that ironically the amazingly pure quality of Lake Superior "native" (meaning pure) copper actually stunted metallurgical development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpmMY_Rcbd8&t=1477s
Tomek Jankowski
2021-06-26 19:50:20 +0000 UTCIt will turn out that interdependence led into interconnectedness on a scale that we thought impossible...always cool to learn that , when it comes to humans, the impossible is the most likely explanation.
Don Cook
2021-06-25 20:11:52 +0000 UTCWatched this twice: quite fascinating. The huge leaps in investigative techniques have already opened up knowledge that 20th c. archaeologists could only dream of: think what such future technologies could reveal. The potential trade links and what the exchange good might reveal are just so exciting. (I should imagine that trade might start almost as soon as Britain became an island: what do you want that you now can't walk to get? I have a boat.. what would you give me? ) Can't wait for further information!
Susie Stockton-Link
2021-06-25 20:09:33 +0000 UTCFascinating discussion. Thank you. I learned so much
Anne Collinson
2021-06-25 19:31:57 +0000 UTCI've always thought people were far more mobile than given credit for years ago, it's great to see modern scientific methods proving it.
Robert Boudreau
2021-06-25 17:36:05 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed this discussion, thought provoking. Especially the comments about coinage and the use of money and what was the practice before. Especially if you didn't see each other till the next year, how was that trust put into practice. The discussion certainly confirmed that even with all the science of today, we still don't know all the answers.
Kevin Greaves
2021-06-25 15:54:34 +0000 UTCGreat talk. The discussants seem to simplify trade routes but even today the main sources of a product are often not the producers but middle persons - retailers, traders, other vendors. I suppose examining remains on a vessel can help indicate where it has been, but we can't assume that, for example, there was a direct trade between two points or that the final customers always knew the actual origins of a product or resource. Traders often do not reveal the sources of their products.
Richard Yoast
2021-06-25 15:14:00 +0000 UTCTim: I will trade you very useful tin for any useless gold you have. You can trust me on the value of the tin. I wonder who was the first person who figured out that adding tin to copper made wonderful bronze. Did he go around mixing up all sorts of metals before this discovery?
John Matthew IV
2021-06-25 02:25:12 +0000 UTCFascinated by the sky disk. It seems to hold numerous secrets of its time. The knowledge, creativity and intelligence of these early people is quite extraordinary. Thanks very much for this informative discussion, Helen and Tim.
JUDITH COOKE
2021-06-25 00:51:51 +0000 UTCThe question has always been when did people know that they need certain metals and then when did they figure out how and where to get it and make it all into what they did. it amazes me that most people with next to no education, figured out how to get materials and make things that he needed.. as for the Money issue, wonder how it will be, in future when people go digging for what is OUR time now, [ but in future ] and try to figure out how we paid for things when everything now is credit cards and online, when there is no longer any way to find coinage. Would love to see more digs in Ireland and Scotland both, and parts that are better known for where the Vikings / normans came and either invaded or stayed and settled for a time...
Donna Oglesby
2021-06-24 22:05:05 +0000 UTCI've always wondered how they knew that Cornwall had tin, did they travel all over the UK asking people - have you seen this type of rock? Were they very good mineralogists to know where to look? There must have been a large number of people travelling around Europe looking at the rocks to see where different types of minerals could be found. It is truly mind blowing - Europe must have been much more connected than we thought
David Thomas Bacon
2021-06-24 20:11:17 +0000 UTCThank you. Always learn from Patreon. Take the Tintagel connection, added back to the Sun Disk, Irish gold/tin and the number of " Beach Markets". (Such as the Meols items at the end of the Wirral) The more I see, the bigger Trade potentially gets.. Wow.
E Anna Johnson
2021-06-24 18:45:29 +0000 UTCAlways great to see Helen. I always learn something new
Trish Murphy
2021-06-24 17:14:05 +0000 UTCAny effort to estimate the annual production of tin? Might ships have left "their workers" to increase production with the work an aspect of the trade exchange? Awful to make the risky journey and find a shortage.
Ann H
2021-06-24 17:08:29 +0000 UTC
