The short lived Aztec Empire was made of various city-states tied together with “persistent and aggressive multifaceted trade networks” (Berdan 2017). Although the Mexica group led the expansion of the Aztec Empire’s military and politics, they did not pioneer markets or trade in central Mexico. Evidence points to the first markets appearing in Oaxaca from 500-100 BCE, and even earlier, the first evidence of established trade networks comes from 1400-950 BCE in the preclassic Olmec civilization. Trade continued into the classical era of Mesoamerican history, as it was prominent in the Mayan world, with goods such as “obsidian, jade, quetzal feathers, marine shells, igneous rock, and various craft” (Berdan 2017) being traded. In the postclassic Aztec Empire, commerce was the primary method of integrating the various city-states comprising the empire, with trade happening locally, regionally, and foreignly throughout the region.

One important aspect of this far-reaching trade system were pochteca, professional long-distance traders who specialized in expensive goods such as “jaguar pelts, jade, quetzal plumes, cocoa, and metals” (Maestri 2018) and whose primary consumers were the wealthy elite. Because of their role, the pochteca had their own social class, “higher than any non-noble person” (Maestri 2018). Additionally, the pochteca guilds had their own laws, god, ceremonies, and closely guarded secrets and trade knowledge only available to sworn guild members. Pochteca traveled in caravans in every direction from their stations in major cities. They would also sometimes act as spies for their clients as marketplaces and other trade centers were good places to gather information via local gossip, which would be reported back to the buyers. Conversely, they also could be informants for the Aztec State, as their travels took them all over the empire and they had the permission to travel to foreign lands beyond control of the Mexica emperor.

One very important good throughout the history of Mesoamerican trade is salt. The Olmecs were the first group in the region to begin actively engaging with the material by extracting it and trading it along the eastern coast. By the classical period salt was likely one of “Mesoamerica’s most widespread regional specializations” (Williams 2009). Salt (sodium chloride) is necessary for human survival and an important tool for preserving food, and was used by the Aztec state to maintain order within the empire, as the state had the power to limit or block trade supply of the resources to conquered communities, ensuring their obedience to the empire.

References

Berdan, Frances F. “Late Postclassic Mesoamerican Trade Networks and Imperial Expansion.” Social Studies, May 2017, www.sociostudies.org/journal/articles/939197/. 

Maestri, Nicoletta. “Pochteca: Elite, Powerful and Deeply Distrusted Traders of Mesoamerica.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 13 Jan. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/pochteca-elite-long-distance-traders-172095. 

Williams, E. (2009). Salt Production and Trade in Ancient Mesoamerica. In: Staller, J., Carrasco, M. (eds) Pre-Columbian Foodways. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0471-3_7 

Further reading

Smith, Michael E. “LONG-DISTANCE TRADE UNDER THE AZTEC EMPIRE: The Archaeological Evidence.” Ancient Mesoamerica 1, no. 2 (1990): 153–69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44478204. 

McGuire, Randall H. “The Mesoamerican Connection in the Southwest.” Kiva 46, no. 1/2 (1980): 3–38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30247838. 

On the banks of the Kalambo River in Zambia, a team of archaeologists have made a new discovery that reframes the way experts think about early hominid societies. The discovery in question are two wooden logs, overlapping at a right angle, and held together by a carved notch, and with additional markings believed to have been made by sharp, stone tools. This find is now possibly the oldest known wooden structure in the world, dated by experts at the University of Aberystwyth to 476,000 years ago. The site, a hard to access beach strip upstream of a 770 foot waterfall that flows into Lake Tanganyika, first hosted archaeological activity in 2006, that was later continued in 2019 by this team of archaeologists from universities and other organizations across the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Zambia. In addition to the remarkable wooden structure, the team also discovered more wooden artifacts, including a digging stick, a log cut on both ends, a wedge, and part of a trap. These finds were dated to around 390,000 years ago. This dates the artifacts as before homo sapiens, leading archeologists to speculate that these were created by an early human species, homo heidelbergensis (Sample 2023).

One of the factors that make this find so notable is the rarity of wood this old. In this case, these ancient wooden artifacts were preserved due to the waterlogged, oxygen-deprived sediment they were found in. The pieces were dated using a method called luminescence dating, as the finds were too ancient to be analyzed with radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology. Luminescence dating measures the energy of photons being released, and dates the last time the artifact was exposed to sunlight or extreme heat.

An additional factor in this artifact’s significance is what it reveals about ancient hominids. The fitted wood is theorized to have once been part of a larger structure, perhaps a walkway, raised platform for storing food, keeping fire off the wet ground, or a base for a house. No matter the purpose of the structure, the implication is the same: early hominids had the capacity to create plans for complex structures, and theoretically a language to communicate about these plans. Geoff Duller, a team member and co author of the study published about the find, remarked “It’s completely changed my view of what people were capable of that time” (Hunt 2023). This also calls into question the belief that early hominids were completely nomadic if they were creating structures such as this one. Furthermore, it also opens up the possibility that more structures like this existed, as the wood used to create them likely would not have survived. As of today, the artifacts are currently being conserved in the United Kingdom, but will be returned to Zambia for analysis. Finally, the archaeological team, along with the Zambian government are working to get the area acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

References:

Harris, Gareth. “World’s Oldest Wooden Structure Discovered in Zambia.” The Art Newspaper – International art news and events, September 21, 2023. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/09/21/worlds-oldest-wooden-structure-discovered-in-zambia. 

Hunt, Katie. “Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Known Wooden Structure in the World.” CNN, September 21, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/africa/oldest-wooden-structure-zambia-scn/index.html. 

“Luminescence Dating Laboratory.” Luminescence Dating Laboratory | U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed September 23, 2023. https://www.usgs.gov/labs/luminescence-dating-laboratory/luminescence-dating-laboratory. 

Sample, Ian. “‘Oldest Wooden Structure’ Discovered on Border of Zambia and Tanzania.” The Guardian, September 20, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/20/oldest-wooden-structure-discovered-on-border-of-zambia-and-tanzania.

Further Reading:

MUSONDA, FRANCIS B. “100 YEARS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ZAMBIA: CHANGING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES.” The South African Archaeological Bulletin 67, no. 195 (2012): 88–100. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23631395. 

Barham, L., Duller, G.A.T., Candy, I. et al. Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06557-9