Markets in Tenth-Century al-Andalus and Volga Bulghāria: Contrasting Views of Trade in Muslim Europe

Abstract

AbstractThere is a conspicuous absence of interest in markets and commercial activities in recent studies of al-Andalus. A similar problem existed in the Marxist historiography of commercial relations in Eastern Europe during the early Middle Ages. Although Soviet scholars initially downplayed trade in favour of agriculture and crafts, the explosion of archaeological research in key Bulghar centres, as well as the discovery of a number of sites that may be defined as emporia have dramatically...