Economy and Cultural Contact in the Mediterranean Iron Age. Perspectives from East and West (original) (raw)
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In: Armit, I., Potrebica, H., Črešnar, M., Mason, P. & Büster, L. (eds) 2016. Cultural Encounters in Later Prehistoric Europe. Budapest: Archaeolingua. This paper aims at analyzing cross-culture trade (i.e. trade between people of local origin and seaborne traders coming from Greek or Phoenician colonies or from Italy) in the northern part of the Iberian world (i.e. modern-days eastern Aragon, Catalonia and the southern part of the Languedoc), during the Iron Age and previously to the Roman invasion. It will discuss the prevalent and often implicit assumption according which trade would have been made according to norms established by the seaborne traders themselves. It will briefly review the institutions of trade typical of the ancient Eastern and Central Mediterranean, and outline the materiality of such institutions. Through comparison, it will emphasize the specificities of the Iberian trading practices, mainly based on interpersonal relationship and mutual trust, and show that the seaborne traders adapted themselves to this peculiar reality. Last, it will discuss the modalities of this adaptation, by reconsidering the well-known Greek text of Pech-Maho (Sigean, Aude, France).
2013
(2013) - Throughout the local Bronze and Iron Age, European and Mediterranean societies appear to have been involved in complex systems of exchange networks which invariably affected local customs and historical developments. Archaeological evidence suggests social and economic phenomena, cultural expressions and technological skills stemmed from multifaceted encounters between local traditions and external influences. Examples of cultural openness and transcultural hybridisation seem to be more of a norm than an exception. The articles in the volume explore the dynamic relationship between regionally contextualised transformations and inter-regional exchange networks. Particular effort has been put in approaching the issue in a multi-disciplinary perspective. Continental Europe and the Mediterranean may be characterised by specific development and patterns of relations, but the authors draw attention to how those worlds were not alien to each other and illustrate how common interpretative tools can be successfully applied and a comprehensive approach including both zones adopted. more info and table of content at http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/oxbow-books-imprint/exchange-networks-and-local-transformations.html"
2009
This study describes the role of entrepreneurs in societies of the Eastern Mediterranean ca.1350-1175 BCE. It borrows several concepts from historiography, sociology, and economic anthropology--including social distance, trader's dilemma, trade ecumene, trust, and a world-systems perspective-- and applies them to the growing body of textual and archaeological sources for Late Bronze Age trade. Ancient records from Ugarit, Assyria, Greece, Egypt, and Anatolia are critically reexamined and in some cases translated anew. Recent archaeological evidence, including that found at specialized trading sites, is surveyed to interpret the texts. The analysis focuses on the practices and organization of people who profited from long-distance exchange. These social relations and means of exchange are understood as the substance of the interregional networks that connected powerful states and city-states in what has been called the first great international period. Eight types of relations are considered: technological, legal, ethnic, familial, political, and those concerning literacy, class, and production. In these relationships there is seen a balancing of traditional and capitalistic ideals that shaped the practices and organization of trade and affected socioeconomic development. Two-sector and patrimonial models concentrating on production, ownership, and authority are critiqued for having de-emphasized the impact of long-distance trade. By focusing on socioeconomic relationships and avoiding dichotomous categorizations (urban-rural, public-private, etc.), this study demonstrates that the entrepreneur seeking profit played a significant role in the functioning and transformation of society. Social classes are distinguished by modes of accumulation rather than by ownership of the means of production or by administrative titles of rank. Using an approach to profit-seeking behavior more in keeping in Weberian than Marxist theory, merchants are found to have been part of an important sphere of economic activity. It is concluded that entrepreneurs, enabled by favorable geopolitical circumstances, both enriched and destabilized 14th to 12th century BCE Eastern Mediterranean societies in a pivotal manner.
This collection of papers is based on a one-day conference held at Somerville College, Oxford on 29th May 1999. Around that time, a number of Fellows and doctoral students at the University of Oxford were conducting (or had recently completed) various research into topics both directly and tangentially related to the late antique economy and long-distance exchange in the East Mediterranean (fourth to seventh centuries A.D. in Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya).l This seemed an opportune moment to bring various scholars 'out from the cold' to discuss and compare fresh and unpublished results. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the speakers for their hard work in preparing their presentations, and for finding the time in their busy schedules to transform them into publishable form.2 This project was supported morally and academically by several scholars: Bryan Ward-Perkins and Marlia Mango encouraged some of their doctoral students to present new work at the conference, and subsequently 'endorsed' its publication. Bryan Ward-Perkins also made invaluable comments about the text, graciously permitted us to coerce him into penning a summary, and generally supported all stages of the conference and publication unreservedly and with humour; our great appreciation is extended to him. James Howard-Johnston chaired the afternoon session of the conference with his usual aplomb and charm; everyone at the event was extremely pleased that he managed to fly back from Jerusalem in time to attend. The day would simply not have been the same without him. It is a great regret that illness deprived the conference of the sharp mind, energy, and depth of knowledge of John Lloyd (Lecturer in Roman Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, and doctoral supervisor to A. Wilson and S. Kingsley), who passed away the day after the conference. Dr. Lloyd's spirit did, however, affect the proceedings deeply: amphorae, quantification techniques, landscape archaeology, and urban economies were all themes which he was fascinated by and passionate about. As unassuming as he was, we would like to think that he would have been proud of how his legacy has been received by a younger generation. Thus, it is wholly appropriate that Andrew Wilson's paper is dedicated to John Lloyd (Dr. Wilson continues his work as the new Lecturer in Roman Archaeology at Oxford, and through the ongoing excavations at Euesperides/Benghazi in Libya). The conference was enthusiastically sponsored by Somerville College. Resources were generously made available from the Katharine and Leonard Woolley Fellowship Fund at Somerville, and we would like to sincerely thank Dame Fiona Caldicott (College Principal), Miriam Griffin, and all the committee for their support and interest. Somerville has an interesting tradition in Near Eastern archaeology, having educated the Biblical Archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, and bestowed a Fellowship on Prof. Claudine Dauphin (the renowned Byzantinist specialising in demography, society, vi Preface and mosaics in late antique Palestine). It is fitting that the conference should have been sponsored through the Woolley Fund because Leonard Woolley was a pioneer of late antique archaeology in the East Mediterranean in his own right: at the turn of the twentieth century, along with one T.E. Lawrence (subsequently ' of Arabia'), he surveyed the standing Byzantine ruins in the Negev Desert of southern Palestine on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Our continued awe at these impressive remains, and ongoing endeavours to understand how such an arid landscape was made to blossom, derives directly from their fieldwork and published results (The Wilderness of Zin, by C.L. Woolley and T.E. Lawrence 1914-1915-PEF Annual, 3rd. Volume). Thanks are also offered to Sandy Hellig for helping arrange the conference logistics; to Phillip Munday and the catering staff for their hard work organising lunch and refreshments; to Mark Merrony for the loan of his precious laptop; to Eric Cooper for assistance proofreading. As ever, thanks to our families for trying to understand the personal sacrifices which assembling such a volume requires. Finally, a word of appreciation to Classic FM for late night moments of sanity.
Two significant developments during the later Mediterranean Iron Age (roughly eighth to sixth centuries BCE) are the proliferation of long-distance trade networks and the growth of urban settlements around the Mediterranean. In the paper I argue two main points: 1) that overseas communities geared largely (but not solely) towards trade were vital in facilitating and intensifying commercial and social relations between culturally diverse societies and 2) that common religious identifications within these settlements formed fundamental institutional structures to mediate transactions between foreigners. I thus examine, first of all, some recent scholarship surrounding the concept of the emporion in the ancient world, particularly in terms of its social and urban functions. I then turn to a specific case study involving the cultic activity unearthed at an emporion on the Tiber River in Italy dating to the sixth century BCE, on the site of what would later be known as the Forum Boarium, or cattle market, of Rome. The religious identities as illustrated through the archaeology and literature surrounding gods such as Herakles, Mater Matuta, and Fortuna were crucial in reaching across cultural boundaries, and speak to the diverse groups of people engaging in social and economic transactions within this emporion. I end with a consideration of how both a theory of institutions and comparative evidence from later periods can help us divulge the explanatory power of these cults in terms of the larger processes of urbanization and economic growth in the ancient world. Keywords: emporion, religion, sanctuaries, syncretism, cross-cultural interaction, institutions, long-distance trade, economy, Iron Age