Hunter-Gatherer Trade in Wild Forest Products in the Early Centuries A.D. with the Port of Broach, India

Abstract

Two paradigms have been used to describe the nature of twentieth-century huntergatherers, one focused on ecological approaches, the other emphasizing historical context. This paper examines how an ancient forager trading system might have operated, using the Gujarati port city of Broach, India. Foragers supplied important wild products necessary for prestige goods exchange and for the maintenance of Asian religions. These products could be obtained more effectively and at lower cost by local foragers. Today, trading opportunities are fewer and the forest resources endangered, the result of modern destruction of forest habitat and appropriation of land. KEYWORDS: hunter-gatherers, trade systems, Broach, northwestern India, South Asia.