We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
The Inca Empire (c. 1400–1532) was the largest Indigenous state to develop in the Americas, spanning the extraordinarily rich landscapes of the central Andes. Scholarly approaches to Inca-era economies initially drew on Spanish colonial documents that emphasized royal resource monopolies, labor tribute, and kin-based land tenure. Anthropologists in recent decades have emphasized local economic self-sufficiency and the role of reciprocity in Inca economics. This Element adds to the existing literature by reviewing recent archaeological research in the Inca capital region and different provinces. The material evidence and documents indicate considerable variation in the development and implementation of Inca political economy, reflecting an array of local economic practices that were tailored to different Andean environments. Although Inca economic development downplayed interregional trade, emerging evidence indicates the existence of more specialized trading practices in Inca peripheral regions, some of which persisted under imperial rule.
This chapter examines the medieval Greek and Arabic sources for the movement of medical substances between the Byzantine and Islamic worlds in the period from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Although commerce was the most common means employed in the movement of materia medica, and the part played by tribute taking and looting was not negligible, the role of diplomatic gift exchange cannot be ignored. A relatively wide range of drugs were exchanged, ranging from theriac and a stone against dropsy to spices and perfumes. Moreover, this chapter examines the peculiar role of drugs as gifts in diplomatic communication compared to more typical diplomatic gifts such as expensive textiles and luxurious objects. Not suited to acting as objects of display, materia medica seemed to convey a personal message of care, creating mutual ties between the sender and the recipient.
Recommend this
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.