each group came. This was likely done in a group setting, not as an indivi-
dual activity. The guiding principle was reciprocity, symbolizing the
promise of mutual assistance, not profit.
Paleolithic exchange did not generally involve goods that were necessary
for everyday living. Items could have some practical use as, for example,
allies could exchange weapons made from local stone. Most likely, articles
that traveled long distances had ritual or social value, such as carvedfigur-
ines or ocher for skin application. The use of ornaments for personal decora-
tion, including beads, necklaces, bracelets, and pendants made of bone,
antler, animal teeth, shell, and stone, became popular. The distance an object
traveled became a measure of its worth. Being exotic, that is, coming from
outside one’s immediate range, provided an appeal in itself and, because it
was special, it made its owner special. By traveling far, even a mundane
object could become valuable as in the case of certain kinds offlint and
attractive seashells that were transported hundreds of miles.
Shell beads made from a certain snail species have turned up in Morocco
dated to 82,000 years ago. The same style of beads from the same species
made at roughly the same time has also been found in neighboring Algeria
and distant Israel, prompting speculation on the existence of an exchange
system or perhaps even an early form of currency, however improbable.
Improbability turned into impossibility when in 2004 similar beads turned
up in South Africa, sparking a media furor over the possibility of a pre-
historic trans-African economy. But coincidence can play funny tricks; the
skill is in determining where coincidence ends and serious consideration
should begin. Most informed observers, trained to be skeptical of unfounded
speculation and determined to use common sense in such cases, still consider
the African snail enigma a curious bit of coincidence.
About 10,000 years ago, the world began a radical transformation as
people settled down and started to domesticate plants and animals.
According to one model, people tended to congregate in places that were
crossroads for exchange and commercial activity. In the relatively small area
of Southwest Asia where Asia, Europe, and Africa come together, the inter-
action of ideas and technologies and the exchange of goods were especially
active. There, agriculture was first born, bringing a great increase in
exchange. For a while, agriculturalists swapped products with the remaining
hunter–gatherers such as, for example, wild animal meat and honey for
grain, beer, and pottery, with neither of the participants dependent on the
other for subsistence. The emergence of pastoralist societies offering dairy
products, meat, and leather to agriculturalists provided an even greater sti-
mulus for trade. Communities were still bound within ceremonial systems
where valuables, as defined by their high symbolic content, were exchanged.
Social alliances were the motivating consideration rather than cost–benefit
analysis. Products could serve a range of purposes, and their significance
could change as they circulated. Axes, for example, made from exotic stone
14 In the beginning