Trade, exchange, and gifts

Something for something

Copper and gold had been known since the Neolithic but only became a symbol of power and prestige in the Copper Age. The spread of Bell Beaker communities throughout the continent at the dawn of the Bronze Age can be linked to the appearance and exchange of the first bronze artefacts. The exploitation and distribution of copper and alloying materials (tin, antimony, arsenic) quickly became a privilege for the clans led by a warrior elite residing in fortified settlements. However, their advantage vanished when iron, a metal relatively easy to access from diverse sources, became widely known in Europe, as the explosive spread of iron tools and weapons quickly transformed the cultural landscape and power structures of the continent again.

The ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean and some Late Iron Age peoples of the continent (mainly the Celts) developed complex exchange and trade networks through which they could transport special and prestige items even to the most remote villages. Business flourished along rivers and established routes, where graphite (for decorating pottery), corals and sea snail shells (for jewellery), and glass artefacts were exchanged for agricultural produce and crafted metal and other products. Markets often were the stages of transactions at the fringes of the Roman Empire, especially in peaceful periods in the turbulent Migration Period, and merchants often ventured to ‘barbarian’ territory in the hope of a substantial profit. Several findings from this period help outline the foreign political relations and trade contacts of the societies of the era, as well as provide reliable information on the condition of the economy.

Standardised means of payment have existed since the Bronze Age. The first currencies consisted of cast bronze loops and ingots of identical weight and widely known and accepted value. Celts were the first in the Carpathian Basin to mint and use money, designing their silver coins first after Greek and later after Roman pieces. This innovation represented the dawn of a new era in the history of trade in the region.