Page 99 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1876 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

During at least the Postclassic, markets served as the tively low in value, cacao beans were sufficiently valued
venue for exchanging the full range of commodities pro- to have been actively counterfeited.
duced and manufactured in Mesoamerica. Professional Large plain cotton cloaks were another common form
long-distance merchants stopped frequently at market- of money that were higher in value than cacao beans;
places in their long and arduous treks to and from distant depending on the quality of the beans and cloaks, values
lands, trading local and exotic luxuries to their eco- ranged from sixty to three hundred cacao beans for one
nomic advantage. Regional merchants depended on the cloak. Cloaks also served a variety of exchange functions:
numerous marketplaces as they moved their specialized They could be used to ransom certain slaves, to obtain
goods across ecological zones. Last but not least, indi- land, and to gain restitution for theft.A basic standard of
vidual producers relied on market days to maintain diver- living (probably for a commoner) was also expressed in
sity in their material lives, whether for subsistence or an terms of these cloaks, twenty of which could support an
elevated standard of living. Any given marketplace, then, individual for one year.These cloaks therefore also served
would see expensive and inexpensive goods, elite and as a standard of value in the economic system.
commoner consumers, local and distant vendors and Other recorded media of exchange were feather quills
merchants, and familiar and exotic wares for sale. filled with gold dust in central Mexico, and copper bells,
The marketplace was not only a site for economic stone beads, and thin copper axes in the more southern
transactions, but also for the exchange of the most recent reaches of Mesoamerica. Information on all of these
news and rumor. Indeed, under the Aztec empire, some forms of money applies to the highly commercialized
specialized professional merchants were sent by the Postclassic times; it is not clear how extensive such media
emperor to travel from market to market, disguised as of exchange may have been in earlier periods. Cacao
local traders; their purpose was to ferret out information beans continued as a medium of exchange well into
on political and military conditions in the region. Spanish colonial times, although the other money forms
The local city-state also benefited from a lively market, quickly faded away. Spanish coin was used side-by-side
as taxes were typically levied on vendors.A different sort with cacao, gradually replacing it.
of external involvement can be seen at the Tlatelolco mar-
ketplace, where professional merchants oversaw the func- International
tioning of the market and sat there as judges on Trading Centers
market-related crimes and disputes. Another significant trading venue was the international
trading center.Typically located beyond or at the periph-
Media of Exchange ery of major city-states, these centers attracted long-
Trade was facilitated by the general use of specified distance professional merchants from great distances.
media of exchange, at least by Postclassic times.The most Here, the merchants would find a considerable diversity
common and lowest-value exchange media were cacao of trade goods and could carry on a high volume of high-
beans, which may have served as “small change” or to value trade relatively unencumbered by political condi-
even out unequal values in barter exchanges in market- tions. While they may have developed early in the
places. While the actual value of cacao beans in pre- prehistory of Mesoamerica, they became particularly sig-
Hispanic times is unknown (and probably fluctuated in nificant during the commercialized Postclassic period.
any event), colonial values may well be fairly representa- Such centers were found throughout Mesoamerica, in
tive: two hundred cacao beans for a turkey cock, one hun- highland as well as lowland regions.Wherever their spe-
dred cacao beans for a turkey hen, thirty cacao beans for cific locale, they typically were strategically situated
a small rabbit, three cacao beans for a turkey egg, one between major polities or significant environmental
cacao bean for a large tomato or a tamale. While rela- zones, and were located along convenient trade routes—