All About History - Issue 111, 2021_

SILK ROADS:

PEOPLES, CULTURES,

LANDSCAPES

IS OUT NOW FROM

THAMES & HUDSON

ABOVE Many slave

markets were found

across Afro-Eurasia,

such as this one in

today’s Yemen

Is it true that the Silk Road marked
the beginning of globalisation?
Although commonly heard nowadays,
this is rather misleading as globalisation
is generally taken to mean sustained
and interdependent global connections,
that is connections which include the
Americas. Although there is evidence
of the Vikings reaching the east coast
of North America, they were there
briefly and there is no firm evidence
for other, let alone sustained, links with
Afro-Eurasia across the Americas. Of
course, we yet might find evidence of
some links – some peoples have always
travelled to distant lands – but it is
highly improbable that we will discover
this resulted in any interdependency, as
we would probably have already seen
evidence of this.

THE SILK ROAD

The Silk Roads, therefore, are

sustained routes of connection and

trade  by land and sea across Afro-

Eurasia. Although I think we can argue

for an interdependence across this

region, this does not, strictly speaking,

represent globalisation.

What do you think is a common

misconception about the Silk Road?

That there was an actual ‘Silk Road’!

‘Silk Road/s’ is a construct that we use

for a period and regions in history that

have certain common characteristics:

sustained long-distance and inter-

regional contact, including trade. It

is  useful as a construct for describing

and researching these activities and

their  consequences in different regions

and cultures. There were multiple

routes for such contact, by land and

sea, and they adapted depending on

circumstance. There was little direct

trade between distant countries:

merchants traded goods from one

market to another, whether land-

locked or a river or sea port. Silk – both

the thread and woven cloth – was an

important part of this but not always

the main item of trade. Nor did it go

only from China: other places developed

their own silk and silk-weaving expertise

and also traded silk, including selling to

China. The Silk Roads, therefore, covers

a  complex and mutable web of routes

and movements.

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