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Shell Money : A Comparative Study

Fauvelle, Mikael LU orcid (2024) In Elements in Ancient and Pre-modern Economies
Abstract
Where, when, and under what circumstances did money first emerge? This Element examines this question through a comparative study of the use of shells to facilitate trade and exchange in ancient societies around the world. It argues that shell money was a form of social technology that expanded political-economic capacities by enabling long-distance trade across boundaries and between strangers. The Element examines several cases in which shells and shell beads permeated throughout daily life and became central to the economic functioning of the societies that used them. In several of these cases, it argues that shells were used in ways that meet all the standard definitions of modern money. By examining the wide range of uses of shell... (More)
Where, when, and under what circumstances did money first emerge? This Element examines this question through a comparative study of the use of shells to facilitate trade and exchange in ancient societies around the world. It argues that shell money was a form of social technology that expanded political-economic capacities by enabling long-distance trade across boundaries and between strangers. The Element examines several cases in which shells and shell beads permeated throughout daily life and became central to the economic functioning of the societies that used them. In several of these cases, it argues that shells were used in ways that meet all the standard definitions of modern money. By examining the wide range of uses of shell money in ancient economic systems around the world, this Element explores the diversity of forms that money has taken throughout human history. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Origins of money, Shell beads, political-economy, Trade and exchange, Economic anthropology
in
Elements in Ancient and Pre-modern Economies
pages
86 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISBN
9781009494434
9781009263351
9781009263344
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dd7e263b-196c-4a6f-809c-4e442abefdf7
alternative location
https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/elements/cambridge-elements-series/ancient-and-pre-modern-economies
date added to LUP
2024-02-15 11:07:08
date last changed
2024-02-17 03:40:24
@book{dd7e263b-196c-4a6f-809c-4e442abefdf7,
  abstract     = {{Where, when, and under what circumstances did money first emerge? This Element examines this question through a comparative study of the use of shells to facilitate trade and exchange in ancient societies around the world. It argues that shell money was a form of social technology that expanded political-economic capacities by enabling long-distance trade across boundaries and between strangers. The Element examines several cases in which shells and shell beads permeated throughout daily life and became central to the economic functioning of the societies that used them. In several of these cases, it argues that shells were used in ways that meet all the standard definitions of modern money. By examining the wide range of uses of shell money in ancient economic systems around the world, this Element explores the diversity of forms that money has taken throughout human history.}},
  author       = {{Fauvelle, Mikael}},
  isbn         = {{9781009494434}},
  keywords     = {{Origins of money; Shell beads; political-economy; Trade and exchange; Economic anthropology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Elements in Ancient and Pre-modern Economies}},
  title        = {{Shell Money : A Comparative Study}},
  url          = {{https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/elements/cambridge-elements-series/ancient-and-pre-modern-economies}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}