New Technologies Facilitated Long-Distance Communication & Exchange

By: Leilani Smith, CraiSean George, Peyton Ellen, & Linda Villarruel

Period 6

Sea Connections

Likely to have existed between coastal communities in the Aegean Sea

Provided links between Greece and the Near East

Links between Greece were mainly to Anatolia

Further Development in Transportation

On both water and land facilitated the consolidation by the established of long-distance trade network

The constantly changing environment triggered the steady development in tool technology

Periods Which Trade Evolved

Mesolithic

Neolithic

Bronze

Iron

Roman

Mesolithic

An important transitional period in Europe

During this period, hunters and gatherers communities underwent significant changes in technology economy and social organization

Bronze Age

Archaeological records show the presence of long-distance trade routes

Linked north to south and east to west

The Amber Routes

The longest and oldest long-distance trade routes

Located in the Baltic and Mediterranean regions

Domesticated Animals

New technologies permitted the use of domesticated pack animals to transport goods across longer routes

The first pack animal that was domesticated in the Eastern Hemisphere was the donkey in Africa in 3500 B.C.E.

Horses were the official pack animal

Animal Transportation

By the 4th Millennium, domesticated animals were used for transport

Farmers used cattle for localized transportation

Pastoralists used sheep and goats for transportation

Camel Saddles in the Eastern Hemisphere

New technologies like saddles permitted the use of domesticated pack animals like camels

Camels were domesticated and used for travel and exchange across long distances

The camel was a domesticated pack animal in the eastern hemisphere

Camels

The camel was domesticated shortly before 1000 B.C.E.

Pack animal used by the Assyrian military

Superior to previous pack animals because it could carry 5 times the load of a donkey

Required less watering

Used for longer distances

Camel back transportation was more economical and more efficient than cart transportation

The Saddle Itself

Saddles were a form of a new technology that helped with travel on pack animals such as horses, llamas, camels, and sometimes oxen

The first saddles, which appeared more than 4,000 years ago, were just a patch of animal hide or a piece of cloth

These early models offered little in the way of support or security, but they served as a buffer between horse and rider during bareback migrations and battles

Camel Saddles Use

(Silk Road): Overland from western China to the Mediterranean Trade made possible by development of a camel hybrid capable of long dry trips

(Saharan Trade): Points in western Africa south of the Sahara to the Mediterranean; Cairo was the most important destination Camel caravans

Lateen Sails

•a triangle shaped sail attached the fore and aft, and is very tall and high peaked

OR

•a square sail

Theories on How Lanteen Sails

Developed1. Developed in the Mediterranean and spread forward the Indian Ocean

2. Developed in the Indian Ocean and spread forward the Mediterranean

3. Developed on the Red Sea

Stages of Development

1. The Square Sail- almost universally in the ancient world; only during the early Byzantine period in the Eastern Mediterranean. Though stable on heavy seas, it is not very versatile to make much use of and headwinds.

2. The Lug Sail- was one of the many efforts to make the square sail better for sailing close to the wind.

3. The Arab Lateen or Settee Sail- very effective fore-and-aft rig. Developed in Arab waters well before the coming of Islam, may have been the type of sailing ship that the Nabataeans would have used to sail on the difficult waters of the Red Sea.

4. Fully Developed Lateen- Final step made in the Mediterranean before 900 AD, turning the Arab sail triangular. Used for small boats for years.

Lanteen Sail Contributed in the Indian Ocean Trade

•Permitted sailing for from coast. Created a trading class with mixture of cultures, ties to homeland broken

•Arabs developed the first triangular sails in 200 BCE

•Greeks were using the Dhow and triangular sails on the Aegean Sea by the end of the 2nd Century BCE

•In the 3rd Century CE, the Dhow and Lateen Sails dominated sea trade from the Mediterranean to East Africa and the Indian Ocean