The Swedish scientists of the University of Lund showed a new theory about the origin of the money.
According to Oxu.AZ, the study was published in the scientific journal Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (Jamt).
The emergence of money has long been explained by two main concepts: the theory of goods and charist theory. The theory of goods claims that the money has appeared to simplify the troch inside the communities. However, ethnographic data show that barter systems were rare, and most companies used confidence -based exchange networks.
Chartalist theory, on the other hand, links the emergence of state money, which used to collect taxes and taxes. But this theory does not explain how money could have appeared in pre-state societies.
In the new study, the researchers proposed an alternative: the money appeared to facilitate long distance trade, where confidence -based relationships were not possible. The authors analyzed two ancient monetary systems: the beads in the shells in Western North America and the bronze ingots in Europe.
In North America, the beads in the shells have been used by indigenous populations for thousands of years. They facilitated the exchanges between the tribes that spoke different languages and lived in distant regions. The commercial networks stretched for thousands of kilometers, and the beads became a universal means of exchange.
In the Europe of the Bronze Age, the bronze bullion, rings and axes have been standardized in size and weight, making them convenient for trade between different regions. The raw material for bronze was extracted from limited places, such as the Alps and British islands, which stimulated interregional exchanges.
According to researchers, the money, initially created for foreign trade, gradually entered the internal economies, contributing to the development of taxation and strengthening the power power. For example, in ancient California, the use of beads in the shells led to the appearance of the captains – autonomous political units consisting of several villages or communities united under the leadership of a supreme chief.
The study not only reassesses the history of money, but also shows how economic innovations can occur from the need for intercultural interaction.
