Humans have been sorting, measuring and trading for over 5000 years.
Standardized by shape and weight: 5,000 years ago, people used rings, bangles and axe blades as an early form of money.
The concept of fair or equal trade shows up 2500 years before ancient Greeks lean-in to put words to the consistencies of human existence. It was important enough for folks to hone skills to gauge the weight of a trading token.
The Dutch researchers examined more than 5,000 bars, axe blades, and rings from the period of 2150-1700 BC. The examined objects came from different archaeological sites, including in what is today South Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, as well as North Germany and southern Scandinavia. They found not only single objects, but whole collections (hoards) of several hundred pieces.
It appears that in addition to having found the benefits of doux commerce, man of the Bronze Age was familiar with greed and hoarding. There are some constants in the world.
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