with the Roman Empire, because the Roman Empire had be-
come an important source of wealth, sending literally tons
of gold and silver to India in exchange for goods India either
produced or acquired from cultures farther east. Indian ships
ranged westward and eastward, staying close to the southern
Asian coast. Th ey established trading posts on the Malay Pen-
insula and would land goods on the peninsula’s west coast,
then carry them overland to the east coast to be reloaded on
ships. Th e island of Sri Lanka, off the southern coast of In-
dia, became famous for its big warehouses, extensive docks,
and ships visiting from all over southern Asia. By charging
docking fees and developing expertise in navigation, the Sri
Lankans became wealthy.
With Greek and Egyptian crews, Indian merchants sailed
as far as what is now southeastern China, and they traded in
Java, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Th ailand. On overland routes
the Indians formed caravans, oft en consisting of the carts
of several diff erent merchants who had joined together for
protection from bandits. Th eir caravans wended their way
through the Western Ghats mountains to the west coast of
India for loading onto ships or through the various roads
called collectively the “Silk Road” that led northeastward to
China as well as west into the Near East. In southern India
this trade resulted in the development of trading empires,
with governments devoted to fostering trade. How many peo-
ple in southern India were reached by the wealth generated by
the caravans is not known, but it seems that nearly everyone
profi ted from the caravans by selling them food and goods or
by providing them with services. So important was foreign
trading that when the Roman Empire suff ered an economic
recession in about 170 c.e., the loss in trade lowered the stan-
dard of living of the Vaishya caste.
People in India imported and exported exotic animals,
and they exported gems, metal, earthenware, and beads
across Asia. Th is trade spread goods from many cultures
across Asia, even bringing Roman pottery to Java. To Rome
went spices, pearls, textiles, cosmetics, and a host of other
goods. From Rome came wine, sculptures, ironware, and
coins. By the end of the Maurya Dynasty, India had become
one of the two great economic powers of eastern Asia, and it
remained that way through wars and revolutions. Th e other
great economic power was China.
EUROPE
BY PETER S. WELLS
Between the earliest human activity in Europe around a mil-
lion years ago and the advent of writing around 200 b.c.e.,
we are dependent exclusively upon the evidence of archaeol-
ogy for studying the economies of communities. Th e mate-
rial evidence of archaeology enables us to examine in detail
the three main categories of economic activity: subsistence
(production of food), manufacturing (making of tools, weap-
ons, ornaments, containers, and other necessary and desired
goods), and trade (obtaining materials and products from
other communities, through exchange). During the fi nal
centuries b.c.e., and especially with the writings of Julius
Caesar (100–44 b.c.e.) about Gaul, written sources in Greek
and Latin begin to complement the evidence of archaeology.
During the Roman Period in Europe—the fi rst four centuries
c.e.—a number of texts refer to the economy, though little
written information pertains directly to the topic.SUBSISTENCE
Before the introduction of agriculture and animal domestica-
tion around 6000 b.c.e. in the southeast of Europe, all peoples
in Europe were hunter-gatherers, or foragers. Th ey relied on
plant foods they collected in their environment, such as fruits,
berries, seeds, nuts, and roots, and on animals they hunted,
fi shed, and collected, including eggs and shellfi sh. Bones of
animals that people hunted and scavenged are oft en well pre-
served on archaeological sites. At sites of the Paleolithic Pe-
riod, or Old Stone Age, from almost a million years ago to the
end of the ice age that dates to about 12,000 years ago, such
fi nds attest to the hunting of elephants, mammoths, woolly
rhinoceros, reindeer, red deer, elk, bison, horse, and numerous
small mammals, as well as birds and fi sh. Plant food remains
are much less apparent on archaeological sites than animal
bones. A wide range of plants were collected, processed, and
consumed by Europe’s early hunter-gatherers.
During the Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age,
roughly 8,000 to 12,000 years ago, the warming of the earth’s
climate melted the glaciers that had covered the northern
parts of Europe, and the tundra that had occupied much of
the continent was replaced by the forests and grasslands that
comprise the natural vegetation of Europe in recent times.
With the great climatic changes, the megafauna—the mam-
moths, woolly rhinoceros, and other large mammals—be-
came extinct, and the lands were populated by new species
of animals, such as red and roe deer, wild boar, aurochs (wildPerforated part skull and antlers of red deer dating to the Early
Mesolithic, about 7,500 b.c.e., from Star Carr, Vale of Pickering,
North Yorkshire, England. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)economy: Europe 359