Trade as a Factor of Cultural Change: The Case of Sardinia

Abstract

The article, based on field research materials, examines from the anthropological and historical standpoints the origins of trade in the inner mountainous regions of Sardinia, considering it as a factor in changing the worldview of the population of this closed pastoral area. I discuss the specifics of artisanal, domestic, and mainly small-scale commerce and its agents, as well as the range of goods, the attitudes of the locals towards the sellers, etc. I further analyze in comparative terms the aspects of the vision of space and movement in the eyes of the pastoral and peasant populations and the merchants. I argue that the differences between the former and the latter in many ways influenced both the perception of commercial activities in the peasant milieu and the relationship between this milieu and the commercial strata. The research offers novel interpretations, since the issue of endogenous metamorphoses of traditional society, such as that of Sardinia in particular, has not been thoroughly studied up to date in the light of trade processes. Moreover, the research outcomes are relevant due to the fact that many aspects of commerce that had originated in ancient times can be still observed in the present-day trade relations of the region.