ABSTRACT
A second type of trade is conducted over greater distances either between culturally different peoples within a single state (25), or between neighbouring peoples. Transactions are made at marketplaces located close to the borders of the trading peoples, or at the capital of the state. They are held every fourth or every eighth day and are intimately connected-with the week. On the other three days ofa four-day week, local markets will be held. The fourth day is a day of rest and peace and is devoted to the regional trade. The organisation of the trade and the maintenance of peace is in the hands of the political authorities of the chiefdoms in which the market-place is located.' The goods exchanged are foodstuffs, specialised products from local industry, and products which come from markets specialised in the long-distance trade, such as European goods, salt or copper. The trade arises partly because some suitable raw materials exist only in some chiefdoms and not in others, and partly because of some special skills which are present only in some cultures. In *Reprinted by permission of Cambridge University Press from the Journal of African History, Vol. III, No.3, 1962.
