Learn about prehistoric economies in Latin America in Ancient Economies: Comparing the Aztec and Inca (ANTHARC 296, Section 101). This course will be offered in Spring 2019.

The way that we create value and buy items is constantly changing. From designer labels to cryptocurrency and credit cards, things acquire a certain value and goods are exchanged for specific items. The archaeological past offers a rich array of ways that value is created, and it shows how trade and exchange occurred between ancient cities and states. Ancient Economies: Comparing the Aztec and the Inca (ANTHARC 296, Section 101) will begin by looking at modern concepts of value, social signaling, and exchange. It will then create a framework for understanding archaeological investigations of prehistoric economies. The bulk of the course will focus on the economies of two ancient empires: the Aztec and the Inca. This course fulfills the social science distribution and counts toward the anthropology major and minor. Contact the instructor, Jordan Dalton, for more information: jadalt@umich.edu.