文档介绍：J Archaeol Res (2008) 16:339–395
DOI -008-9023-5
The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards
a New Trade Synthesis
Rahul Oka Æ Chapurukha M. Kusimba
Published online: 9 April 2008
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008
Abstract After almost three centuries of investigations into the question of what it
means to be human and the historical processes of ing human, archaeologists
have amassed a huge volume of data on prehistoric human interactions. One of the
largest data sets available is on the global distribution and exchange of materials and
commodities. What still remains insufficiently understood is the precise nature of
these interactions and their role in shaping the diverse cultures that make up the
human family as we know it. A plethora of theoretical bined with a
multitude of methodological approaches exist to explain one important aspect of
human interaction—trade—and its role and place in shaping humanity. We argue
that trade parallels political, religious, and social processes as one of the most
significant factors to have affected our evolution. Here we review published liter-
ature on archaeological approaches to trade, including the primitivist-modernist and
substantivist-formalist-Marxist debates. We also discuss economic, historical, and
ethnographic research that directly addresses the role of traders and trade in both
past and contemporary societies. In keeping with plexities of interaction
between trade and other aspects of human behavior, we suggest moving away from
the either/or perspective or strong identification with any particular paradigm and
suggest a return to the middle through binational approach to the study of
trade in past societies.
Keywords Trade Á Trading systems Á Traders Á Archaeology Á Exchange Á
Interaction Á Economic history Á Economic anthropology
R. Oka (&) Á C. M. Kusimba
Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History,
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL