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Steve DeBaun
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 Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:14 am Post subject: Question about barter between tribes |
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I apologize in advance for my inadequate terminology. I am by no
means a student of anthropology; at best I am a popcorn-eating fan on
the sidelines. I just had a question, and thought I>d try here for
direction.
I know that even with 'primitive' tribes, ones without a money
economy, there can be a lot of trade with other tribes. I recall
hearing that there was an extensive trade network in pre-columbian
america, where items crafted in the pacific northwest have been found
in the mid-west, etc.
Has there been any analysis of the kinds of items that were traded?
Specifically, I>m curious about weapons. Were they traded? What kind
of items were and weren>t? Any recommendations on where I can look to
find more about this?
Thanks,
Stephen DeBaun |
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Day Brown
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| Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject: Re: Question about barter between tribes |
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Steve DeBaun wrote:
[quote]I apologize in advance for my inadequate terminology. I am by no
means a student of anthropology; at best I am a popcorn-eating fan on
the sidelines. I just had a question, and thought I>d try here for
direction.
I know that even with 'primitive' tribes, ones without a money
economy, there can be a lot of trade with other tribes. I recall
hearing that there was an extensive trade network in pre-columbian
america, where items crafted in the pacific northwest have been found
in the mid-west, etc.
Has there been any analysis of the kinds of items that were traded?
Specifically, I>m curious about weapons. Were they traded? What kind
of items were and weren>t? Any recommendations on where I can look to
find more about this?
Weapons are not generally traded, regarded as too personal, often made[/quote]
in ways that have been handed down for generations and regarded is icons
of the culture.
But interestingly, archeology found the world>s first industrial zone in
Western Anatolia, where 10,000 years ago the local obsidian was crafted
in two different styles, one for Europe, the other for the Levant.
If I understand correctly, the more open terrain of the Levant needed
lighter points that would carry further. Europe, with dense forest,
needed heavier points with more killing power which reduced the need for
tracking, which was difficult on forest duff, but duck soup on the sands
of the Levant. |
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jerry warner
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| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:19 am Post subject: Re: Question about barter between tribes |
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Steve DeBaun wrote:
[quote]I apologize in advance for my inadequate terminology. I am by no
means a student of anthropology; at best I am a popcorn-eating fan on
the sidelines. I just had a question, and thought I>d try here for
direction.
I know that even with 'primitive' tribes, ones without a money
economy, there can be a lot of trade with other tribes. I recall
hearing that there was an extensive trade network in pre-columbian
america, where items crafted in the pacific northwest have been found
in the mid-west, etc.
Has there been any analysis of the kinds of items that were traded?
Specifically, I>m curious about weapons. Were they traded? What kind
of items were and weren>t? Any recommendations on where I can look to
find more about this?
Thanks,
Stephen DeBaun
[/quote]
Yes to everything above and a good question.
Trading requires an assignment of value and trust, of course. Trading has
evolved just like everything else.
In very early times one can imagine trading at a distance,
items left for trade, and exchanges devoid of actual
face to face contact - commensurate with the level of
trust at the time. A trade had to balance personal risk
with the expectation of satisfaction for trading to continue
and to avoid retaliation in bad trades!
One could just attack and steal, but the risk are greater.
Trading requires some balance to be struck, some commonly accepoted set of
values, in order for a trade
to rise above the level of theft and fraud.
Somehow, trading became the preferred standard
very early. Populations skilled at trading prospered and
their populations multiplied.
The issue of trading weapons or articles related to weaponry: I take a
different view from the poster below
and say yes, unequivically. Especially trading of raw materials for making
weaponry.
By historic times in America, Indian populations had been
trading freely for hundreds of years. Different cultures
traded differently.
At Effify Mounds on the upper Mississippi near McGregor,
Iowa, digs have produced shells from the Gulf of Mexico, native copper
from Michigan, flint and agates from the Dakotas, clay pots from the Ohio
area, etc etc etc. It
is quite obvious these people had a vast trading network
not only by way of the Mississippi itself but also by land
from the east west, northwest, and north...
Thse people would have traded items from their own
ecological inventory. They also would re-traded as
middle-men, items received from others and passed on...
In historic times metal and metal weapons became prised,
knives in particular. The French trappers of Ontario had
been passing their steal knives on for hundreds of years.
There is a lot on the internet about this subject...
good luck reading.
JW |
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