Commerce and trade

Mycenaen stirrup jar

Tetra Drachma

Mycenaen stirrup jar

Amphipolis Gold Stater

Trade in luxury goods, such as perfumes, oil, spices, silks, jewels and ivory was an important part of ancient commerce. The earliest pieces used for shipping perfumed oil are stirrup jars from the Mycenaen bronze age (1400 - 1100 B.C.E.). Coins, inroduced in Greece in the seventh century B.C.E. made trading more convenient and efficient. Often artistsic creations, they served as media of exchange and - above all - important symbols of the economic and political power of Greek city-states, Hellenistic rulers, and Roman emperors. Archaeologists use coins as clues to the date of other artifacts found with them.