# What's the oldest trade?



## yaintj (Dec 17, 2010)

Phrase saying the prostitution is the oldest trade refers idea that all married woman are prostitutes. It was a political statement more than talking about historical fact.
Oldest trade would have been rock smith, pottery maker, or shaman. All before them was more like community based cooperation. I would say shaman or salesman.


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## skycloud86 (Jul 15, 2009)

Zomboy said:


> If you really wanted to get technical, you could say the Vikings were the first traders; although they were only good at the 'taking' bit.


Vikings weren't the first traders, they were around thousands of years after the first traders - evidence suggests that humans were trading at least as early as 3000BCE.


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## st0831 (Jul 13, 2010)

Prostitution can be a craft because people go to prostitutes in search for entertainment and release (pun intended). Since entertainment entails the creative art of entertaining and skill, it can be considered as a craft.

In the old days, prostitutes entertained their clients with performances such as dancing, music, singing, and but not limited to speech persuasion which all led to the entertainment climax (sex or no sex) where a customer would pay the entertainer.

Prostitution is just a job. It's not immoral or moral. Only certain belief systems make it so because they want people to think a certain way. I think it is really funny when people can drink and smoke (which is a proven slow poison to oneself and others) but are morally persecuted for those engaging in prostitution.


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## a space whale (Jul 12, 2011)

I think this discussion would be far more interesting if you didn't leave the meaning of trade open for folks to define in order to suit their answer.

@virtualvortexrider You've already touched on good point -- why does "trade," (literally, the exchange of goods) also refer to an individual's career / profession? At least it does in English, but I'd wager everything I own that the same in 1,000 other languages.

How about this -- we define "trade" here as *a specialisation or skill/service that the trader provides for others in exchange for most of the essential goods/services that the trader cannot provide for themselves.*

Then both traditional farming and hunting/gathering are explicitly NOT trades (anti-trades) because they skill-sets that are characterised by self-sufficiency.

A wet nurse could certainly "buy" favour and assistance in an tribal society, but I doubt there would be a steady enough stream of births for them to devote most of their resources to it. That is, you would still spend most of your time digging for worms or picking berries or whatever.

A snake oil salesman fits this definition for a trade, but it's not the first.

ATP synthesis is probably the best candidate we have so far, but if we're more interested in human trades, then indeed (at least to intuitive picture of how civilisation evolves) provided you were hot and sexy enough, I bet even in a group of just ~25 adults you could easily get by just through a bit of sweet lovin here and there.


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## RobynC (Jun 10, 2011)

Soldiers/Guards.

After all there were always weak people who needed protection. Of course there's a fine line between protection and protection rackets...


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## virtualvortexrider (Jun 7, 2010)

RobynC said:


> Soldiers/Guards.
> 
> After all there were always weak people who needed protection. Of course there's a fine line between protection and protection rackets...


I guess you did not have history lessons did you? In the early roman empire it was the peasants and land owners themselves that fought against local adversaries wikipedia. 

@spacewhale I am of the belief that most older words have an inherent meaning. I.e. trade. That points in my opinion to the fact that anybody not producing food needs to trade their product or service against food eventually. Now the question is what would be the first specialization? Protection? Experience? Being able to become pregnant?

Interesting how logical everybody here is. Stark contrast to the INFP forums. =)


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## Monkey King (Nov 16, 2010)

Nope, tool making is the first trade or, don't know the specific term, weaving the animal hides (leatherwork? ). But, that would require tools, so tool making. 

That would stay consistent with the hunter-gatherer age as they made arrowheads and whatever else they used to hunt.

Edit: 

Should have read page 2. I'd go with prostitution.


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## SpilledMilk (Jul 19, 2011)

Motherhood/homemaker.

Of course, for the negatively cynical, it all boils down to The Whore Con:



> ...In Greg‘s personal lore, the pimp taught him the essentials of the “whore con”:
> 
> A) Men are powerless before the lure of female sexuality.
> 
> ...


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