Re: Need help with cite

On Mar 4, 2:57 pm, "Tom McDonald" <kilt...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mar 4, 12:09 pm, "George Dance" <georgedanc...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Can anyone help me track down who first presented this theory about
the origins of primitive trade? I read it years ago, but have long
since forgotten the author - IIRC t was Leon Louw, but I'm really not
sure - and no longer have access to the original source.

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In prehistoric times, rival
tribes trading with each other did not speak at all, or even meet.
Tribe A simply left goods in a desgnated spot; Tribe B would come
along and, if they liked the goods, take them and leave goods of
their
own; if Tribe A liked that, the trades would continue. Most of the
tribespeople didn't even know there was trading going on, due to lack
of free speech; the official spokesmen (the priests) spread the lie
that the gods had provided. (Meaning that everyone got to witness
the power of the gods first-hand.)

I'd be curious about this theory, too. It seems wrong to me, not least
because it is attempting to attribute behavior to people that does not
appear, or not that clearly, in the archaeological record. It would
seem to require the groups be either historic, or at least proto-
historic for that kind of data to be available.

How can we know that groups who traded with each other didn't speak to
each other if we don't have a written record?

And how can we know that 'official spokesmen' attributed the largess
to the gods?

I'll be curious as to what you find.


Thank you for your reply. What I have found to date is evidence of
the phenomenon - known as 'silent barter' or 'silent trade' - in
primitive and even some more advanced societies, going back to
Herodotus. At this point I'm conjecturing that the evidence for it as
a prehistoric phenomenon is based on extrapolating that recorded
behavior backward, and that the 'gods' part was merely an hypothesis
on the part of the writer.

Though, I must confess, this intrigues me - especially since I finally
found something today - so I'll be doing more digging; and if I get
anything I'll report back here.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Need help with cite
    ... the origins of primitive trade? ... Tribe A simply left goods in a desgnated spot; ... that the gods had provided. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Need help with cite
    ... the origins of primitive trade? ... Tribe A simply left goods in a desgnated spot; ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Need help with cite
    ... the origins of primitive trade? ... Tribe A simply left goods in a desgnated spot; ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Need help with cite
    ... the origins of primitive trade? ... Tribe A simply left goods in a desgnated spot; ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: What kind of sets are there?
    ... I am doubtful of whether real world mythology would be any help, ... Take for a tiny example the moon as left eye and the ... stab at 'where do gods come from'. ... origins, and further down for a brief discussion of them, but perhaps ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)