While archaeologists now have demonstrated that barter and trade of material commodities began in prehistory, theoretical efforts to explain these findings are just beginning. We adapt the central place foraging model from behavioral ecology and the missing-market model from development economics to investigate conditions favoring the origins of household-level production for barter and trade in premodern economies. Interhousehold exchange is constrained by production, travel and transportation, and transaction costs; however, we predict that barter and trade become more likely as the number and effect of the following factors grow in importance: (1) local environmental heterogeneity differentiates households by production advantages; (2) preexisting social mechanisms minimize transaction costs; (3) commodities have low demand elasticity; (4) family size, gender role differentiation, or seasonal restrictions on household production lessen opportunity costs to participate in exchange; (5) travel and transportation costs are low; and (6) exchange opportunities entail commodities that also can function as money. Population density is not a direct cause of exchange but is implicated inasmuch as most of the factors we identify as causal at the household level become more salient as population density increases. We review archaeological, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic evidence for premodern marketing, observing that the model assumptions, variables, and predictions generally receive preliminary support. Overall, we argue that case study and comparative investigation of the origins of marketing will benefit from explicit modeling within the framework of evolutionary anthropology.

中文翻译：

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“每个商人也必须是商人”：行为生态学和家庭水平的生产，以实现前现代经济体的易货贸易

虽然考古学家现在已经证明，物质商品的易货贸易是在史前时代开始的，但是解释这些发现的理论努力才刚刚开始。我们采用行为生态学中的中心地方觅食模型和发展经济学中的失踪市场模型，以研究有利于家庭水平生产起源的条件，以促进前现代经济中的易货贸易。家庭间交换受到生产，旅行和运输以及交易成本的限制；但是，我们预计，随着以下因素的数量和影响的重要性日益增加，易货贸易和贸易的可能性将越来越大：（1）当地环境异质性通过生产优势使家庭分化。（2）已有的社会机制将交易成本降至最低；（3）商品需求弹性低；（4）家庭规模，性别角色差异或家庭生产的季节性限制减少了参与交流的机会成本；（5）旅行和运输成本低；（6）交换机会需要同时具有货币功能的商品。人口密度不是交换的直接原因，但与人口密度有关，因为随着人口密度的增加，我们认为家庭层面因果关系的大多数因素变得更加突出。我们回顾了考古学，民族史和人种学方面的证据以进行前现代营销，并观察到模型假设，变量和预测通常会得到初步支持。总的来说，我们认为案例研究和对营销起源的比较研究将受益于进化人类学框架内的明确建模。性别角色差异或家庭生产的季节性限制减少了参与交流的机会成本；（5）旅行和运输成本低；（6）交换机会需要同时具有货币功能的商品。人口密度不是交换的直接原因，但与人口密度有关，因为随着人口密度的增加，我们认为家庭层面因果关系的大多数因素变得更加突出。我们回顾了考古学，民族史和人种学方面的证据以进行前现代营销，并观察到模型假设，变量和预测通常会得到初步支持。总的来说，我们认为案例研究和对营销起源的比较研究将受益于进化人类学框架内的明确建模。性别角色差异或家庭生产的季节性限制减少了参与交流的机会成本；（5）旅行和运输成本低；（6）交换机会需要同时具有货币功能的商品。人口密度不是交换的直接原因，但与人口密度有关，因为随着人口密度的增加，我们认为家庭层面因果关系的大多数因素变得更加突出。我们回顾了考古学，民族史和人种学方面的证据以进行前现代营销，并观察到模型假设，变量和预测通常会得到初步支持。总的来说，我们认为案例研究和对营销起源的比较研究将受益于进化人类学框架内的明确建模。