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NotPhil · 4105 days ago · link · · parent · post: The greatest mystery of the Inca Empire was its strange economy
It had a palace economy, which was not unusual. The isolated communities devoted to "trade" with other nations were also fairly common. They're called emporiums or ports of trade. The "trading class" that the author believes to be commonplace among high cultures is more unusual than he thinks. The members of this class were also usually looked upon with suspicion by the rest of society. Anthropologists and historians have been telling us for generations that markets did not come to dominate our economic activities until late in the Middle Ages. It's nice to see some of this information make it out into the mainstream.