Dishing The Dirt On Dosh
Handing over a couple of pounds for a drink or a bite to eat is all too easy, maybe even pay with plastic if you are feeling that way inclined. Ten thousand years ago, however, you couldn’t stick it on the credit card, you were more likely to be paying in cows - money has come a long way.
Shells and ivory jewellery may have been made as early as 75,000 ago and evidence of such pieces have been found in the Blombos Caves in South Africa; cowrie shells in particular have been often quoted as among the first money-like items and were still used into the 18th century! In 1770, the price of a single slave was roughly 150,000 cowries. Whether these early trinkets were traded or not is hard to say, but they may well have been used as some sort of bartering tool. They were not, however, money in our sense of the word and could not really be used in everyday transactions.
The early Chinese, about 10,000 years ago also used to exchange items, with tools, axes and knives among the favourites. In early Egypt and Mesopotamia in about 3000BC, gold bars were individually marked and weighed to show their value. Gold
Shells and ivory jewellery may have been made as early as 75,000 ago and evidence of such pieces have been found in the Blombos Caves in South Africa; cowrie shells in particular have been often quoted as among the first money-like items and were still used into the 18th century! In 1770, the price of a single slave was roughly 150,000 cowries. Whether these early trinkets were traded or not is hard to say, but they may well have been used as some sort of bartering tool. They were not, however, money in our sense of the word and could not really be used in everyday transactions.
The early Chinese, about 10,000 years ago also used to exchange items, with tools, axes and knives among the favourites. In early Egypt and Mesopotamia in about 3000BC, gold bars were individually marked and weighed to show their value. Gold