{"product_id":"the-boundaries-of-ancient-trade-helina-solomon-woldekiros-9781646424726","title":"The Boundaries of Ancient Trade: Kings, Commoners, and the Aksumite Salt Trade of Ethiopia","description":"Drawing on rich ethnographic data as well as archaeological evidence, \u003ci\u003eThe Boundaries of Ancient Trade\u003c\/i\u003e challenges long-standing conceptions of highly centralized sociopolitical and economic organization and trade along the Afar salt trail--one of the last economically significant caravan-based \u003cbr\u003e trade routes in the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For thousands of years, farmers in the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea have run caravans of nearly 250,000 people and pack animals annually along an eighty-mile route through both cold, high-altitude farmlands and some of the hottest volcanic desert terrain on earth. In her fieldwork, archaeologist Helina Solomon Woldekiros followed the route with her own donkey and camel caravan, observing and interviewing over 150 Arho (caravaners), salt miners, salt cutters, warehouse owners, brokers, shop owners, and salt village residents to model the political economy of the ancient Aksumite state. The first integrated ethnoarchaeological and archaeological research on this legendary route, this volume provides evidence that informal economies and local participation have played a critical role in regional trade and, ultimately, in maintaining the considerable power of the Aksumite state. Woldekiros also contributes new insights into the logistics of pack animal-based trade and variability in the central and regional organization of global ancient trade. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Using a culturally informed framework for understanding the organization of the ancient salt route and its role in linking the Aksumite state to rural highland agricultural and lowland mobile pastoralist populations, \u003ci\u003eThe Boundaries of Ancient Trade\u003c\/i\u003e makes a key contribution to theoretical discussions of hierarchy and more diffuse power structures in ancient states. This work generates new interest in the region as an area of global relevance in archaeological and anthropological debates on landscape, social interaction, and practice theories. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Helina Solomon Woldekiros\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1646424727\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781646424726\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Colorado\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/17\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.92lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2024","brand":"Helina Solomon Woldekiros","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44149271363839,"sku":"9781646424726","price":68.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d52629a8-ebab-4e8a-a532-86e18074947e.jpg?v=1688455762","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-boundaries-of-ancient-trade-helina-solomon-woldekiros-9781646424726","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}