Glass Trade Beads from the Goose Lake Outlet #3 Site (20MQ140), Marquette County,Michigan

This article describes analyses of the glass trade-bead assemblage of the Goose Lake Outlet #3 (GLO#3) site (20MQ140), a probable short-term winter campsite located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Based on typological and attribute analysis of the beads, which employed the Kidd and Kidd classification system and comparison with published “glass bead periods” or GBPs developed for assemblages in Ontario, the GLO#3 bead assemblage is assigned a date within the 1630s. Comparison with other midwestern protohistoric assemblages further supports this interpretation. Situated within a protohistoric period of intercultural interaction and exchange, the material culture from the site provides archaeological evidence for some of the earliest arrivals of European-made trade items in the Midwest.     

China's Exports and Imports of Agricultural Products under the WTO

An American economic geographer specializing in the agricultural sector of China's economy presents a study of that country's trade in agricultural products. The paper is focused on patterns of change in the regional distribution of agricultural and aquacultural exports and imports before and after China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Drawing on research during the course of a field trip in July 2008 and utilizing data compiled by China's Customs Bureau, the author provides a comprehensive assessment of the country's trade with 10 major world regions through the year 2007. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F14, F40, O13, Q17. 1 figure, 4 tables, 32 references.     

Early Olmec obsidian trade and economic organization at San Lorenzo

The Olmec were the first complex society to develop in Mesoamerica between 1800 and 600 cal B.C. The earliest large Olmec center during this period was the archaeological site of San Lorenzo which emerged as Mesoamerica's first large ritual and political center between 1400 and 1000 cal B.C. San Lorenzo's growth as a prominent center included the development of long distance trade relationships with adjacent areas of Guatemala and highland Mexico. High precision chemical analysis of obsidian imported for use in the fabrication of cutting tools is used to reconstruct the growth, size and extent of San Lorenzo's interregional exchange networks with areas of Mexico and Guatemala where obsidian occurs as raw material. A total of 852 obsidian artifacts were analyzed to reconstruct changes in obsidian procurement between 1800 and 800 cal B.C. This represents one of the largest samples of sourced obsidian from a Mesoamerican site and it provides a comprehensive picture for the development of interregional trade networks for Mesoamerica's first large Olmec center.     

A study of the Roman iron bars of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône,France). A proposal for a comprehensive metallographic approach

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the organisation of the manufacture and circulation of iron bars and the possible bar standardisation of a given set of artefacts in order to throw more light on commercial patterns during Antiquity. A set of 48 iron based metal bars originating from the Roman shipwrecks at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (France) has been studied using comprehensive metallographic observations, ranging from macroscopic to microscopic scales and slag inclusion (SI) analyses. A comparison of the results allows one to distinguish different metal qualities (inclusions, pores, welding, carbon content) that may be linked to morphological types, which shows the possible standardisation of this set of artefacts. Moreover, SI analyses allow distinguishing various origins for the Primary Pieces of Metal, thereby throwing light on a specific organisation of the iron bar production line during the late Roman period.     

Supply routes and the consumption of glass in first millennium CE Butrint (Albania)

Archaeological, historical and analytical evidence can identify trade patterns and the movement of people and products and thus reveal the cultural and economic connections that existed at a given time. In the case of first millennium CE glass, the manufacture of raw glass in a limited number of glass making installations with unique compositional characteristics makes it possible to trace the likely origin of the raw materials at consumption sites. In this way the analytical characterisation of a large corpus of glass finds can identify changes in the supply routes of high-end industrial products from the Roman to the middle Byzantine period.     

The Archaeology of Trading Systems,Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis

After almost three centuries of investigations into the question of what it means to be human and the historical processes of becoming 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 models combined 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 literature 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 the complexities 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 a combinational approach to the study of trade in past societies.