Obsidian trade

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Tuesday, December 7. 2010

We mentioned the cross country prehistoric obsidian trade last week in Capitalism is not a theory.

Here's a piece on the West Coast obsidian trade of the Paiute.

Parts 2 and 3 below the fold -

Posted by Bird Dog at 12:27 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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Thanks for the link. It was a fascinating story on so many levels.

It sure seems like those ancient miners were making a living trading that precious obsidian. I have to think they were being capitalists. Poor schmuck leaving behind the 12 ingots and then not being able to come back for that small fortune.

While I am glad that Cali has paid for this research, I can't help but wonder how much it adds to the cost of building a road, house, etc. And though this info is neat, I wonder if it has been worth it.

#1 Dangerous Dean on 2010-12-07 15:05 (Reply)

I was on an archeology tour of some Southwest U.S. Anasazi sites. The guides mentioned that in addition to corns, beans, squash, the inhabitants also grew cotton, which either bulk or manufactured was their trade good. Unfortunately, the cottonseeds are inedible, so if they planted cotton, they had to give up beans, which caused a diet deficiency.

When you are a subsistence farmer, it's a tough choice: trade or eat.

#2 John A. Fleming on 2010-12-07 16:24 (Reply)

Here in new england we find flint to be a common mineral used in tool making. Having worked tobacco as a kid i found several points that were still as sharp as when they were made. the down side of this was that we usually found these with our butts as we were picking. We found flint, chert, and quartz points but flint was predominate. Of interest to this story is that the only flint quarry in the area is in upstate New York near the Hudson. Capitalism was alive and well in New England long before we got here. The Mohawk Trail (rt. 2), in western mass, will get you there.

the mystery to me is not that the natives traded with each other but the fact that the oldest specimens showed the more superior workmanship. what would account for that?

#3 jimc on 2010-12-07 16:52 (Reply)

There is some evidence that pre-Columbian North Americans were at a higher level of urban civilization. Mound-builders in Illinois and Missouri, etc. Brought down by smallpox, carried in by Ponce de Leon. Apparently, also, somehow measles made it to New England before the Pilgrims did and wiped out the resident locals. When there's an 80% mortality rate, the survivors tend to focus on just surviving, and all the specialized non-subsistence knowledge and skills are forgotten. Trade collapses also. Climate may have also helped, as the Anasazi records show. There were good times, then lean times.

#4 John A. Fleming on 2010-12-07 19:30 (Reply)

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Tuesday, December 7. 2010

Obsidian trade