EAA2021: Abstract
Abstract is part of session #16:
Title & Content
Title:
Salt and Iron in France and Germany :
Could these raw materials bring an early market economy to light?
Could these raw materials bring an early market economy to light?
Content:
Market economy can be defined as a set of mechanisms through which human societies secure and regulate their material reproduction. This is done mainly via the supply of, and the demand for, rare products that meet tangible or social needs. Thus, the concepts derived from economics have been regarded as inappropriate to study ancient societies and indeed, they can hardly apply as such because archaeological data are incomplete. However, the data available on raw materials, especially salt and iron, can certainly be analysed from an economic point of view.
The aim of this presentation is to show how the market economies of the Iron Ages can be apprehended and understood when applying the methods of economic science. Salt and iron are resources that can be described as strategic. Iron is highly valued for its physical properties. Consequently, both resources are very likely to be contingent on market trends that are inherent to the normal course of supply and demand. The concepts of specialisation, trade, industrialisation, which are often regarded as the pillars of a market economy, are also perfectly applicable to salt and iron. In order to highlight some of the economic phenomena that affected Iron Age societies, our presentation will be based on the data on salt and iron that we have collected in the East of France and the West of Germany.
To study them, we used spatial analysis, but also to understand the interplay between production factors and consumption factors. Moreover, the statistics clearly show correlations, on a given period, between consumption contexts and the various categories of objects. Thanks to this dual approach, the variations in demand and the dynamics of the raw materials market become noticeable. This kind of approach enables to detect demand, therefore to highlight from the archaeological data available the market dynamics.
The aim of this presentation is to show how the market economies of the Iron Ages can be apprehended and understood when applying the methods of economic science. Salt and iron are resources that can be described as strategic. Iron is highly valued for its physical properties. Consequently, both resources are very likely to be contingent on market trends that are inherent to the normal course of supply and demand. The concepts of specialisation, trade, industrialisation, which are often regarded as the pillars of a market economy, are also perfectly applicable to salt and iron. In order to highlight some of the economic phenomena that affected Iron Age societies, our presentation will be based on the data on salt and iron that we have collected in the East of France and the West of Germany.
To study them, we used spatial analysis, but also to understand the interplay between production factors and consumption factors. Moreover, the statistics clearly show correlations, on a given period, between consumption contexts and the various categories of objects. Thanks to this dual approach, the variations in demand and the dynamics of the raw materials market become noticeable. This kind of approach enables to detect demand, therefore to highlight from the archaeological data available the market dynamics.
Keywords:
Economy, Iron Ages, Raw materials, Salt and Iron
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authors
Main authors:
Clara Millot-Richard1
Co-author:
Affiliations:
1 Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne