ABSTRACT
Archaeologists have long considered the sharing and exchange of material objects within and among communities to be a fundamental indicator of social relations and social cohesion. In effect, shared material culture indicates shared culture. This chapter reviews the main phases of the archaeological study of trade and show how, in spite of their repeated abandonment, trade and exchange persist as core concerns for archaeology in the twenty-first century. In confirmation of Adams' suspicion regarding where the field was headed, in 1982 Hodder observed that few if any studies of trade considered its symbolic and ideological aspects, central issues in his 'contextual' approach to archaeological interpretation. Archaeological approaches to the trade and exchange of objects developed in large part out of economic anthropology and studies of both gift exchange and early market systems. The chapter argues that the use of trade embargoes or the signing of free trade agreements among nation-states have important social aims and effects.
