Ancient Trade & Commerce (Archaeology)

Investigations of Mediterranean connectivity have increasingly turned toward maritime landscape models to frame questions of seaborne exploration, marine resource exploitation, trade and exchange, and seafaring culture. Environmental and technological parameters are consistently acknowledged as crucial for understanding when and why different relationships developed across the sea, but their formal employment in the modeling and interpretation of maritime space remains quite limited. The methodology outlined here utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to integrate environment and technology as an analytical tool for exploring the complexity of seaborne connectivity. Focusing on sailing days as practical units of distance and using an Archaic Greek shipwreck off Turkey as a case study, this preliminary model demonstrates how a more nuanced spatial approach can inform the human geography and socioeconomic structures of ancient maritime interaction.

Community detection is a major issue in network analysis. This paper combines a socio-historical approach with an experimental reconstruction of programs to investigate the early automation of clique detection algorithms, which remains one of the unsolved NP-complete problems today. The research led by the archaeologist Jean-Claude Gardin from the 1950s on non-numerical information and graph analysis is retraced to demonstrate the early contributions of social sciences and humanities. The limited recognition and reception of Gardin’s innovative computer application to the humanities are addressed through two factors, in addition to the effects of historiography and bibliographies on the recording, discoverability, and reuse of scientific productions: 1) funding policies, evidenced by the transfer of research effort on graph applications from temporary interdisciplinary spaces to disciplinary organizations related to the then-emerging field of computer science; and 2) the erratic careers of algorithms, in which efficiency, flaws, corrections, and authors’ status, were determining factors.

One of the main foci of comparative studies on ancient societies deals with urban dynamics and, in particular, with initial urbanization processes and their concomitance with the transformations that lead to the emergence of state dynamics. Within this context, we will analyze here the evidence about two nuclei that have provided a large amount of information on the characteristics of the population nucleation on the banks of the Nile during the IV millennium BC: Hierakonpolis, in Upper Egypt, and Tell el-Farkha, in the Nile delta. We will address, first, the available evidence for both historical situations, organizing it into four major areas, related to spatial dynamics, forms of functional specialization, social differentiation, and conflict, which allow us to notice the main innovations that characterize these processes. And second, we will propose a reconsideration of the information that relates to a specific problem: the relationship between the concentration of population in urban contexts and the processes of sociopolitical hierarchization that took place within and from the urban centers. In this sense, beyond the multiple differences between the urbanization trajectories of Hierakonpolis and Tell el-Farkha in the long term, the beginnings of these processes in both nuclei have a common characteristic, which is fundamental for further transformations: the creation of a social context whose practices exceeded the limits related to the preexisting logic of social organization.

SUMMARY: Chapter 9, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers the various types of trade and exchange in past societies, and how one may assess it, including different types of interactions (e.g., gift exchange), various scientific techniques (e.g., microscopic examination of materials; trace-element analysis; isotopic analysis), studying material and/or artifact distributions, assessing production and consumption, and analyzing the various means of exchange and interaction.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED/REVISED March, 2021, some editing and new formatting, minimal new materials.

Die Wirtschaft der antiken Welt steht zunehmend im Mittelpunkt des Interesses der althistorischen Forschung. Obwohl seit Jahrzehnten vor allem um die quantitative wie qualitative Beurteilung des Handels in der Antike erbittert gerungen wird, wird in der Forschungsliteratur häufig nicht scharf zwischen Handel und Distribution differenziert. Um die Auswertung des antiken Quellenmaterials aus dem Mittelmeerraum mit dem aus dem Vorderen Orient zu verbinden, fand im April 2013 in Marburg eine interdisziplinäre Tagung statt, die sich der Thematik am Beispiel des Handels und der Distribution von Textilien vom 2. Jahrtausend v.Chr. bis ins frühe 2. Jahrtausend n.Chr. widmete.
Textilien eignen sich in besonderer Weise dazu, Einblicke in die Funktionsweise des antiken Warenaustauschs zu erhalten. Zwar gibt es bereits in vielen Disziplinen Forschungen zu Handel und Distribution von Textilien, aber diese werden häufig über die jeweiligen Fächergrenzen hinaus nicht wahrgenommen. Der zur Tagung gehörige Sammelband vereint daher Analysen internationaler Expertinnen und Experten aus unterschiedlichen Fachdisziplinen: Alte Geschichte, Altorientalistik, Archäologie, Textilforschung und Naturwissenschaften bilden den analytisch-methodischen Rahmen. Gerade der neuere Ansatz, dokumentarische Quellen mit archäologischen Funden und naturwissenschaftlichen Analysemethoden zu verknüpfen, erlaubt einen tief greifenden Einblick in die Funktionsweise antiker Warendistribution, der Auskunft über das „Wer?“, das „Wie?“ und das „Warum?“ gleichermaßen gibt. Überlegungen zu Absatz- und Beschaffungsmärkten, Warenpreisen und involvierten Akteuren (Institutionen) geben zudem entscheidende Informationen über den Warenaustausch im engeren Sinne hinaus.

ABSTRACT: This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions drawn from the video, KULTUR: First Merchants (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjHiRCFz0Oo [46.36 minutes]).  These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary.  In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials), additional specialist views (e.g., interviews), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks. REVISED Oct. 2023: This documentary contains much useful information for the East Mediterranean (Ulu Burun shipwreck), Ancient Egypt and Near East, and other regions (China and Central America), but does make reference to the "Cocaine mummies." I have used this opportunity to caution students about such findings, adding a side note to the question sheet (Q.26+) and a full page discussion on such assessments and indicators of long-distance trade in antiquity, including some references, web links, and other documentaries dealing with ancient trade and shipping.

In the Middle Ages the brewer had developed into a craftman of distinction, performing his trade in the tradition of his forefathers. By trial and error he had eventually succeeded in mastering the vagaries of the brewing process. Of course a brew could easily go wrong but a good brewer who knew the tricks of his trade was usually able to save the situation. Brewing was not merely a question of good ingredients; correct timing and the right equipment were absolutely essential. The detailed inventories and the accounts for repairs and and other requirements within the brewery of Vredenburg Castle in the city of Utrecht in the 16th century virtually amount to a brewer's journal. The reader can almost taste the atmosphere of the brewery in these old records.

En el presente artículo se pretende mostrar cómo, a través del estudio de la red de infraestructuras, se puede analizar y valorar la importancia de los distintos territorios del mundo romano. Además también se ofrece una hipótesis cuantitativa de los costes del transporte que pueden ayudar a justificar las distribuciones de material, en los distintos yacimientos del marco geográfico estudiado. Toda esta actualización de datos y metodología se aplica al territorio enmarcado dentro de la actual Cataluña, el extremo nororiental de la Provincia Tarraconense.


The present paper attempts to show how the study of infrastructure network may analyze and evaluate the relative importance of different territories in the Roman world. Besides, it provides a quantitative hypothesis of transport costs that may help to justify patterns of material distributions in sites of the studied region. All these update of data and methodology is applied to the present Catalonia, in the NE side of the Tarraconense province.

The commercial level trading which emerged at the start of the Bronze Age was made possible by a common written language. That language was Akkadian in its syllabic (cuneiform) form, its phonetic form (Phaistos Disk and these Minoan Linear A tablets) and all the early alphabetic texts prior to the rise of Greek and Latin. These translated Minoan Linear A texts from Crete preserve a moment in time before being buried by an earthquake. At the time of the earthquake a severe drought was occurring which both increased the demand for temple services and caused a crisis of faith among the temples which began to blame one of the two possible spiritual power classes. The traditional fishing culture focused on spiritual motion powers while the newer agricultural culture focused on life-growth powers. The motion power class rituals were the "magical" rituals by their definition. The life-growth rituals centered around food and feasting. Prior to the drought both power classes were engaged equally by the temples but a split was now developing. The texts can be divided into three types: shipping tags, ritual item lists from various temples, and wall labels used in building construction. This paper supersedes the initial exploration paper on this subject (Olmsted July 2020) having a more complete sign assignment chart and lexicon. All texts are translated according to the scholar's standard.

En los últimos años nuevos estudios están mejorando nuestro conocimiento general de la articulación del tráfico marítimo en época romana.(Remolà Vallverdú and Pociña López, 2001); (Berrocal Caparrós, 2008); (Keay, 2011) El estudio de los contextos portuarios  permite analizar, a través del fondo portuario estratificado tras siglos de frecuentación y actividades comerciales, una gran serie de aspectos relativos a la historia marítima y económica no solo del propio puerto, sino de su territorio marítimo (Ford, 2011). Estos estudios están ayudando a definir una red de tráfico marítimo mucho más compleja que la tradicionalmente planteada para el comercio annonario. Resulta extremadamente interesante comprender estos procesos pues en época augustea se produce un cambio capital en las dinámicas y las tendencias comerciales. El comercio tardorepublicano está caracterizado por ser un comercio con un alto porcentaje de iniciativa privada, en manos de publicanii y negotiatores basado en el abastecimiento de las colonias y la explotación de las materias primas que estas pudieran ofrecer. En ese sentido se observan unas tendencias de comercio marítimo basadas principalmente en el comercio de redistribución a media y pequeña escala. La heterogeneidad de las cargas (al menos en la variedad de los productos) y el tonelaje medio establecido reafirman estas interpretaciones (Pomey, 1978); (Tchernia, 1986); (Nieto Prieto and Raurich i Santaló, 1999). Sin embargo, las sucesivas legislaciones de las furmentationes promovidas en los últimos años de la república (Lex sempronia furmentaria, Lex Terentia et Cassia frumentaria, Lex Clodia Frumentaria….) condicionan un cambio en los modelos comerciales en los que el estado intervendrá de forma directa creándose bajo Augusto el Prefecto de la Annona y otorgando la gestión de la misma al ordo ecuestre. Esta intervención llegó a casos extremos como  los sucedidos durante la crisis neroniana. Estos cambios obligan pues a un comercio más directo, con menos escalas y por tanto un contexto arqueológico diferente. Puertos principalmente redistribuidores como pudiera haber sido el de Carthago Nova en fases anteriores, ven progresivamente decaer su actividad comercial (Ramallo Asensio, 2011).
A través del estudio de los contextos materiales de los fondos portuarios de Carthago Nova, y de los puertos de redistribución, Statios Marítimas o fondeaderos auxiliares, así como de los pecios, podemos comprender mejor los ritmos y los cambios que supuso en el comercio marítimo y en la demanda de consumo el cambio de modelo comercial annonario y sobretodo, las reformas urbanísticas de la ciudad bajo el gobierno de Augusto.

SUMMARY: Lecture 10 completes the summary of the Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades (Early Cycladic) and on Crete (Early Minoan). This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources. REVISED: Many new slides, images, text, sources, and revised formatting (Feb., 2024).

Aufgrund der archäometrischen Untersuchungen besteht kaum Zweifel daran, dass die aus Kalkstein gefertigten Dauergießformen aus Magdeburg zum direkten Gießen von Zinnobjekten bzw. Gegenständen aus Zinnlegierungen oder Blei benutzt wurden. Eine andere Verwendung kommt – mit Ausnahme der Herstellung von Wachsmodellen – angesichts der Temperaturempfindlichkeit des Kalksteins nicht infrage. Es liegt deshalb auf der Hand, mittelalterlichen Kalksteinformen generell eine derartige Verwendung zu unterstellen. Allerdings wurden in der Vergangenheit die wenigsten Fundstücke von anderen Fundorten diesbezüglich analytisch untersucht, sodass nur eine geringe Anzahl von gesicherten Belegen für die genaue Benutzung von Dauerformen aus Kalkstein bzw. aus anderen Materialien vorliegt. Im Folgenden wird das aus Europa stammende Fundmaterial überblicksweise vorgestellt und – soweit anhand von Literaturangaben möglich – hinsichtlich der Verwendung bewertet. Der Fokus liegt v. a. auf chronologisch nahestehenden Vergleichsfunden zu den Magdeburger Gießformen. Daneben werden Weißmetallobjekte besprochen, die in ihrer Machart in vergleichbaren Gießformen entstanden sind.

The source of Egypt's copper supply during the Third Intermediate Period (1070-664 BCE) is largely unknown. Here we present new data from chemical (elemental) and lead isotope (LI) analysis of royal Egyptian artifacts of the 21st Dynasty (ca. 1010 BCE)-a period which until now was represented in the LI record only by a single artifact. Our finds identify the source of the copper in the Arabah region providing a basis for our historical reconstruction of the copper exchange network in the southern Levant at the turn of the first millennium BCE. We also analyzed two objects from the 24th and 25th Dynasties (8th c. BCE), which revealed a marked change in Egyptian copper metallurgy in both the composition (from Cu with traces of Sn to leaded copper with traces of As) and the supply chain (the Arabah ores are excluded). As the sampling involved museum artifacts, we performed X-ray imaging as a means to avoid sampling of any later metallic modifications and ensure the correct sampling process.

“Long-range desert travel by donkey or camel was a daring venture in the ancient world, and losing your way could prove just as fatal as losing your waterskin ...”
Recent exploration has revealed an amazing network of ancient roads and paths
crossing the forbidding Saharan desert. This evidence broadens scientific horizons and launches a fascinating new field of archaeological research.

Zusammenfassung/Abstract:
Anhand archäologischer Zeugnisse aus Naukratis in Ägypten, von Aigina in der Ägäis und aus Gravisca in Etrurien wird die Spur des Sostratos von Aigina aufgenommen, jenem naúkleros, mit dessen Handelsgewinnen – nach Herodot – ‚niemand konkurrieren kann’. Auf dieser Basis werden drei
Schlüsselkonzepte der archäologisch-historischen Forschung diskutiert, mit denen soziale Räume des archaischen Mittelmeerhandels beschrieben werden können: empórion – port of trade – extraurbanes Heiligtum. Abschließend wird versucht, die historische Entwicklung archaischen Austauschs zu
erfassen: von der xenía zur emporía.


Archaeological evidence from Naukratis in Egypt, Aegina in the Aegean and Gravisca in Etruria is used to follow the track of Sostratos of Aigina, that naukleros, with whose profits – according to Herodotus – ‘none can compare’. On that basis are discussed three key-concepts of archaeological-historical research, which allow us to describe the social spaces of archaic Mediterranean trade: emporion – port of trade – extra-urban sanctuary. In concluding, an attempt is made to record the historical development of archaic exchange: from xenía to emporía.

La trachite euganea, una roccia vulcanica estratta dai Colli Euganei, è una delle risorse lapidee cavate sin dall’età antica nell’attuale comprensorio veneto. Le peculiari proprietà meccaniche contribuirono a una larga diffusione della trachite, in particolar modo in età romana, ma già nel corso della protostoria. Il materiale lapideo euganeo venne impiegato in tutta la Regio X (Venetia et Histria), ma anche nell’Aemilia; verso ovest la trachite giunse a Milano/Mediolanum, in Transpadana e a Villa del Foro/Forum Fulvii in Liguria, mentre a sud è documentata sino a Urbisaglia/Urbs Salvia. Questa pietra trovò impiego tanto nelle fondazioni quanto negli alzati degli edifici, rispettivamente come blocchi sbozzati oppure rifiniti, ma venne messa in opera principalmente nelle pavimentazioni stradali. Basoli trachitici provenienti dai Colli Euganei sono stati identificati verso est sino ad Aquileia, ma risultano utilizzati anche nelle maggiori città sorte lungo la via Aemilia e in un selciato di Ancona, centro più a meridione rispetto al bacino di approvvigionamento in cui è stato documentato l’uso della trachite in un tratto viario. Oltre che in ambito architettonico, la trachite euganea fu sfruttata per produrre manufatti, principalmente strumenti per la macinazione, ma si realizzarono sovente anche cippi, stele e monumenti iscritti.
Prendendo le mosse dallo studio analitico di questi ritrovamenti, l’Autore propone un tentativo di ricostruzione delle dinamiche di diffusione del materiale trachitico in età romana: un’analisi combinata di carattere petrografico e geochimico consente  infatti di determinare le cave euganee dalle quali venne estratto il materiale per la realizzazione degli elementi architettonici o dei manufatti; sulla base di queste stesse indagini è inoltre possibile ricavare informazioni sul ciclo di attivazione, sfruttamento e abbandono dei siti estrattivi sui Colli Euganei. Allo stesso modo, uno studio integrato della cronologia dei campioni, delle loro cave di provenienza e dei centri in cui sono stati esportati permette di elaborare riflessioni attorno alle dinamiche commerciali e all’impiego della trachite euganea in Italia settentrionale nel corso dell’età romana.

Central questions in the classical debate on the neolithisation of Denmark and Scania are re-formulated and tested. A transitional stage between the Ertebølle and the Funnel Beaker Cultures is outlined. Consideration is also given to C14-dates of food residues on pottery, which are demonstrated to be significantly affected by reservoir effect.
The introduction of livestock took place no later than ca. 3950 cal. BC. TRB pottery was present at the same time or a little later. Phenomena usually considered typically Neolithic, such as polished flint axes and monumental graves, were absent in the initial stages of the Neolithic. For several centuries subsequent to the introduction of farming, part of the population continued to subsist primarily on marine resources.
Three explanatory models for the introduction of agriculture are evaluated: migration, food crisis, and socio-economic competition. The original arguments in support of the first explanation are demonstrated to be false, but the model may be re-formulated as a variant of the third. The second appears to be of little explanatory relevance but has potential for future substantiation. It is suggested that the main reason for the introduction of livestock and cereals was the social prestige and personal pleasure that could be gained by those who distributed and consumed products of farming – which may have included beverages such as beer.
The introduction of cattle husbandry and cultivation is described as just one aspect of a long-term process of socio-economic transformation – a process characterised by continuous innovation and inflation of social and ritual symbols.

During the Iron Age, the northern coast of Israel passed through several geopolitical upheavals. During the Second Iron Age II, the Carmel coast is considered a border zone between the Phoenician city-states and the Kingdom of Israel. Between 1963–1977, Tel Shiqmona, located on the coast of the Carmel, was extensively excavated and revealed a nearly continuous occupation from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age and further into the classical periods. Still, 40 years later, the results and finds of the early periods have not been researched or published. The Tel Shiqmona Project was launched in 2016 in order to save the cultural and intellectual assets hidden in the site’s forgotten finds. At this very preliminary point it has become clear that there are indications of material culture associated with that of Phoenicia and evidence of an extensive commercial relationship with Cyprus throughout the Iron Age. In addition, the excavation at Shiqmona yielded the largest number of potsherds on which a real purple dye is preserved. These findings raise many questions concerning political, cultural, economic and ethnic aspects of the site. The study is still in progress and the purpose of this short paper is to introduce Tel Shiqmona, its research and to formulate the questions, rather than to give the answers.

Les xarxes històriques de transport sempre proporcionen les traces fossilitzades de les rutes comercials del passat. El present estudi de la xarxa de transport romà a Catalunya tracta de donar nova llum sobre la infraestructura econòmica d’aquesta regió del NE de la Tarraconense. Les conclusions de l’estudi revelen que la xarxa romana i els seus nodes eren una mica diferent dels actuals.

Historic transport networks always provide fossilized traces of past commercial routes. The present study of the Roman transport network in Catalonia attempts to shed new light on the economical infrastructure of this region of NE Tarraconense. Conclusions of this study reveal that the Roman network and its main nodes were a bit different from the actual ones.