ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the idea that the relationships people engage in to obtain goods, or those actions that fall under the rubric of trade or exchange, may be arenas in which social power is exercised and even created. The aspect of the interaction, associated with identity of trading people, is overlooked in the archaeological study of trade but can be seen clearly in several social arenas in Hueda and Dahomey. Coastal West African sociopolitical complexity has long been attributed, at least in part, to the role played by trade in the early interaction with Europeans. The Dahomey elites were quick to see that their identity as a sovereign trading state was also intimately linked to the presence of European traders. Following the success of the Hueda, the Dahomey recognized the importance of prohibiting any single European nation from achieving a trading monopoly. Dahomey incorporated Europeans into its social symbology was through the events known to Europeans as the Annual Customs.
