Home > Sinagua > Architecture > Pottery > Tools > Food > Agriculture > Trade > Hopi Oral History
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Home > Sinagua > Architecture > Pottery > Tools > Food > Agriculture > Trade > Hopi Oral History |
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Trade refers to the exchange of one item for another. It can also represent an exchange for a service or idea. Archaeologists reconstruct how people traded with each other. Some people simply traded items between individuals or other groups. Yet, other prehistoric groups had a more complex exchange system. Sometimes an organized group, chief or king acted as a middle person to hand out the goods or services. More often than not, the middle person kept something for themselves. Archaeologists identify trade goods by using several classification procedures. Archaeologists need to locate where the raw materials used to make the trade item came from, the place where the trade item was made (manufacturing place), and where it was used (areas of use). If an artifact is found and used in a location where the raw material is not available, such as a Gulf coast marine shell bracelet found at Elden Pueblo, then the archaeologist knows that the shell was traded into the area before or after it was made. The Sinagua made a variety of utilitarian and non-utilitarian objects for exchange with other people in the North American Southwest. In return, the Sinagua received decorated pottery and exotic artifacts like turquoise and shell jewelry, macaws, minerals, and even a copper bell from Mexico! |
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