362 economy: Greece to display their status and wealth Trade continued in especially fine flint, as well as in some manufactured implements such as stone axes and pottery vessels Until shortly before the Roman conquest, we have no evidence for standards of value, such as coins Instead of the market-based economy of today, early Europeans seem to have operated trade systems that were closely linked to social relations rather than to market exchange Research on trade in Neolithic stone axes, for example, has shown how patterns in the distribution of these objects suggest that the objects played important roles in regulating social relations between the communities that were participating During the Bronze Age trade came to play an increasingly more important role in societies because many communities had to trade to acquire metal Both copper and tin are relatively rare in nature They occur in deposits in mountainous regions of Europe, such as the Austrian Alps and Cornwall, and not on the North European Plain, for example Yet from the beginning of the Bronze Age on, communities all across Europe had bronze ornaments and tools Copper mines at the Mitterberg near Salzburg in Austria show that hundreds of workers were involved in mining, smelting, and trading metal to communities throughout the continent Along with bronze, many other materials circulated along the trade networks Trade systems were complex and varied Large and finely crafted items, such as swords and cauldrons, were transported great distances from their places of manufacture, while smaller and more common objects, such as decorative pins, were used near the places where they were made The Early Iron Age (800–450 b.c.e.) is distinguished by the appearance of trade centers, places where communities grew as a result of expanding systems of commerce The best documented are a series of hilltop settlements, including Mont Lassois in France, the Heuneburg in southern Germany, Závist in Bohemia, and Belsk in Ukraine At these locations communities grew to populations of perhaps 500 to 1,000, and they were actively engaged in trade with groups in different parts of Europe Especially evident are objects that arrived into central Europe from the Mediterranean world Greek pottery and ornaments, Etruscan bronze vessels, and branches of coral (to be cut and used for decoration on jewelry) are among the special imports that are found in considerable quantities at and around such centers during the sixth through fourth centuries b.c.e Along with these luxury imports, more common objects circulated as well, such as bronze pins, glass beads, amber, and jet In the Late Iron Age, in addition to all the categories of trade goods that circulated earlier, bulk commodities came to play important roles in trade Noteworthy are massive grindstones of basalt, quarried at different locations, such as in Bohemia and in the Middle Rhineland, and transported to still other locations where they were employed for grinding grain In the final two centuries before the Roman conquest commerce intensified between communities in temperate Europe and the Roman world Much of this commerce was centered on the large, city-like settlements known as oppida, but many Roman imports occur at other sites as well These imports included ceramic amphoras in which wine was transported, fine pottery, coins, medicinal implements, bronze vessels, silver vessels, and glass bowls Some communities in temperate Europe began minting coins around the middle of the second century b.c.e., and they show that exchange flourished throughout Europe during the final two centuries b.c.e After the Roman conquest, which divided Europe roughly into a southern and western half that belonged to the Roman Empire and a northern and eastern half that remained unconquered, many new trade goods became available to communities in the provinces, including exotic foodstuffs from the Mediterranean world Besides wine and olive oil, these included dates, figs, olives, and the tangy sauce known as garum that was a great favorite among Roman diners Massproduced Roman pottery circulated widely, both in the imperial lands and beyond it into far northern and eastern Europe New infrastructure contributed to the expansion and intensification of trade during the Roman Period, with large cargo ships plying the Mediterranean shores and the major rivers of Europe, roads constructed over much of the Roman provinces, and bridges built across rivers where none had stood before, such as that across the river Thames in Roman London (Londinium) Trade across the frontier into the unconquered regions of Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, and other lands was both extensive and intensive The imperial frontiers on the Rhine and Danube rivers were no impediment to trade, as tens of thousands of Roman-made objects found north and east of those boundaries make clear GREECE BY CHRISTOPHER BLACKWELL The ancient Greek world, from the Bronze Age in the second millennium b.c.e through the rise of Roman dominance in the Mediterranean in the second century b.c.e., consisted of independent city-states and kingdoms, dispersed across an area that had the Greek peninsula at its center but that extended from what is now southern France through the east coast of Italy, Sicily, parts of northern Africa, the west coast of Turkey, and around the Black Sea These thousands of communities were united by a common language, worship of a more-or-less fi xed set of gods, and certain shared customs From time to time certain states would achieve political control over larger areas—the kingdom of Mycenae during the Bronze Age, Euboea during the eighth century b.c.e., Athens during the fift h century b.c.e., and Macedonia during the late fourth and early third centuries b.c.e Even so, it is impossible to describe a single, unified “Greece” in any meaningful sense for any period of antiquity The economic history of the Greek world, then, must consider different places at different periods and is limited by the available evidence For the Bronze Age, there survive