Mechanics of Trade in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic
Trade in these period went through dramatic change, moving from person-to-person to state-organized trade.
The Neolithic Period
Obsidian and Down-the-Line Trade
33-3-163 Obsidian Core. Gawra, Iraq. ca. 4000-3800 BCE.
Lacking professional traders or long-distance expeditions for trade, the Neolithic period was marked by what anthropologists call, "down-the-line" trade, a type of person-to-person trade. In this system, goods are exchanged between neighboring settlements in succession. A good traded in this manner was obsidian. Obsidian was sourced from various far-off regions as discussed here. The great distance that obsidian traveled reveals its intrinsic value. The core illustrated on the left was found in Gawra, but originated near Lake Van in Armenia. We are able to trace the movement of obsidian by studying the amounts found at different sites. Larger amounts indicate that the site is closer to the source, while smaller amounts point to the opposite.
Systems of Accounting: The Token and Bulla
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An early system of accounting developed in the Neolithic period to keep track of goods and services moving in and out of centralized storehouses and continued for millenia. The clay disks are the size of game tokens and depict everyday items that would have been exchanged such as cloth, honey, lambs, sheep, cow, dog, loaves of bread, ropes, wool, rugs and units of work. These discs or tokens were used to keep track of what went in and out of the temple storehouse. An individual bringing their goods to the temple might receive a token as proof that this transaction took place.
Multiple tokens could be placed in a clay envelopes, called bullae. There would be a depiction on the outside of the bullae which represented the contents inside, this system would allow the envelope to be sealed with the discs safely inside and protected from tampering, thus insuring the proper quantity of goods or services to be rendered to the temple by the bearer. The use of these bullae and tokens predates the development of cuneiform, and provide us with important information about how a preliterate society managed its finances. The bullae themselves likely represent an early form of contract. Each object represents a promise or an oath t0 provide some material. The fact that the bullae protect the tokens provides further evidence for their legal use. They sheathe the token from tampering, a testament to their value. |
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The Chalcolithic Period
Emerging Bureaucracy
The Chalcolithic period is marked by a growing centralization of trade and the professionalization of the industry. Invaluable to our understanding of this time is the appearance of texts, primarily administrative in nature. One such text (depicted below) comes from Uruk and discusses the distribution of wool from the center to various locations and individuals at home and abroad. Tools of administration develop in the 4th millennium, like the stamp seal below. These seals depicted unique symbols that functioned as kinds of signatures to authenticate official business transactions. This points to the growing necessity for administrative control and regulation within the Chalcolithic period.
37-16-208. Stamp seal. Gawra. Gawra XII. Serpentine. Penn Museum.
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Obverse and reverse of a tablet describing the distribution of wool from Uruk to other individuals in varying quantities. After Nissen, 1986 (pp. 331).
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Working on a horizontal loom. Drawing from a cylinder seal from Susa. After Breniquet 2010 (pp. 61).
Like obsidian, wool provides a case study for how goods were traded through a centralized power in the Chalcolithic period. This labor intensive job required extra help organized by the administrators in the city. Once raw wool was collected, it would be loaded onto donkeys and brought into Uruk. If shepherds were farther away, they would have to load the material onto boats. Once arriving at the city's temple, the administrators would take stock of the amount and quality of the wool before sending it off to processing. Large groups of men, women, and children would then work to comb, spin, and dye the raw wool. The finished yarn would then be taken to weavers who would transform it into garments for use within the city as well as for export. Not all the wool would be finished, as some was distributed to the workers, along with grain, as part of their rations. The yarn itself was also traded between the surrounding great cities and abroad. A trader could receive instructions to directly acquire materials, such as copper, from abroad. Traders could also bring wool and textiles to the trading colonies of the Uruk period to facilitate their further distribution.
Traders Abroad: The Colonies of the Uruk Period
Plan of Habuba Khabira. After Algaze 2008 (pp. 71).
After the Uruk Expansion in the Chalcolithic period, vast new world of trade opens up and an intriguing part of this is the establishment of outposts, or colonies, abroad. Important settlements exist in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Archaeologists have uncovered large domestic structures at these sites that indicate elite inhabitants managed the trade here. Once such site, Habuba Khabira, sits on the upper Euphrates and held a population of 6,000-8,000. The settlement included industrial zones, administrative areas, and temples typical of the south.
Evidence of metals, ores, and imported stone indicate the value of these sites for mediating import and export. There is also evidence of workshops that could have processed raw materials first. We can perhaps imagine an elite cadre of merchant families inhabiting these settlements and acting as the arbiters of luxury imports. They would work with craftsmen in their community to produce fine objects out of the raw materials being brought in via donkey caravan. The function of these sites at the northern reaches seems to have been to funnel goods, particularly metals and timber, into the great cities of the south.
Evidence of metals, ores, and imported stone indicate the value of these sites for mediating import and export. There is also evidence of workshops that could have processed raw materials first. We can perhaps imagine an elite cadre of merchant families inhabiting these settlements and acting as the arbiters of luxury imports. They would work with craftsmen in their community to produce fine objects out of the raw materials being brought in via donkey caravan. The function of these sites at the northern reaches seems to have been to funnel goods, particularly metals and timber, into the great cities of the south.
Sources:
Algaze, Guillermo. Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization. Chicago (2008).
Crawford, Harriet 1966. The mechanics of the obsidian trade: a suggestion> Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (New Series) 32, December 1966 30-72.Renfrew, Colin, J.E Dixon
Crawford, Harriet. "Trade in the Sumerian World." The Sumerian World. Routledge (2013).
Goetzmann, William. Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilizaiton Possible. Princeton (2016).
Nissen, Hans. "The Archaic Texts from Uruk." World Archaeology, 17 (1986), 317-334.
Renfrew, Colin, J.E Dixon and J.R. Cann 1978. Further Analysis of Near Eastern obsidians. Antiquity 52: July 1978. 129-132.
Wright, Rita. "Sumerian and Akkadian Industries: Crafting Textiles." The Sumerian World. Routledge (2013).
Algaze, Guillermo. Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization. Chicago (2008).
Crawford, Harriet 1966. The mechanics of the obsidian trade: a suggestion> Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (New Series) 32, December 1966 30-72.Renfrew, Colin, J.E Dixon
Crawford, Harriet. "Trade in the Sumerian World." The Sumerian World. Routledge (2013).
Goetzmann, William. Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilizaiton Possible. Princeton (2016).
Nissen, Hans. "The Archaic Texts from Uruk." World Archaeology, 17 (1986), 317-334.
Renfrew, Colin, J.E Dixon and J.R. Cann 1978. Further Analysis of Near Eastern obsidians. Antiquity 52: July 1978. 129-132.
Wright, Rita. "Sumerian and Akkadian Industries: Crafting Textiles." The Sumerian World. Routledge (2013).