Human

=== Trade and economics ===
{{Main|Trade|Economics}}
[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Silk Road]] (red) and spice [[trade routes]] (blue)]]
Trade, the voluntary exchange of goods and services, is seen as a characteristic that differentiates humans from other animals and has been cited as a practice that gave ''Homo sapiens'' a major advantage over other hominids.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Horan RD, Bulte E, Shogren JF |date=1 September 2005|title=How trade saved humanity from biological exclusion: an economic theory of Neanderthal extinction |journal=Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization|language=en|volume=58|issue=1|pages=1–29|doi=10.1016/j.jebo.2004.03.009|issn=0167-2681}}</ref> Evidence suggests early ''H. sapiens'' made use of long-distance trade routes to exchange goods and ideas, leading to [[cultural explosion]]s and providing additional food sources when hunting was sparse, while such trade networks did not exist for the now extinct Neanderthals.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Gibbons J|date=11 August 2015|title=Why did Neanderthals go extinct?|url=https://insider.si.edu/2015/08/why-did-neanderthals-go-extinct/|access-date=11 October 2020|website=Smithsonian Insider|language=en-US|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021755/https://insider.si.edu/2015/08/why-did-neanderthals-go-extinct/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=University of Wyoming|date=24 March 2005|title=Did Use of Free Trade Cause Neanderthal Extinction?|url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/did-use-of-free-trade-cause-neanderthal-extinction|access-date=11 October 2020|website=www.newswise.com|language=en|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201191705/https://www.newswise.com/articles/did-use-of-free-trade-cause-neanderthal-extinction|url-status=live}}</ref> Early trade likely involved materials for creating tools like [[obsidian]].<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Polianskaya A|date=15 March 2018|title=Humans may have been trading with each for as long as 300,000 years|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/science/early-humans-trading-300000-years-135655|access-date=11 October 2020|website=inews.co.uk|language=en|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123015959/https://inews.co.uk/news/science/early-humans-trading-300000-years-135655|url-status=live}}</ref> The first truly international trade routes were around the [[spice trade]] through the Roman and medieval periods.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Henriques M|title=How spices changed the ancient world|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-flavours-that-shaped-the-world/|access-date=11 October 2020|website=www.bbc.com|language=en|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125075428/https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-flavours-that-shaped-the-world/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Early human [[Economy|economies]] were more likely to be based around [[Gift economy|gift giving]] instead of a [[barter]]ing system.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Strauss IE|date=26 February 2016|title=The Myth of the Barter Economy|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/barter-society-myth/471051/|access-date=11 October 2020|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|archive-date=15 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215153209/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/barter-society-myth/471051/|url-status=live}}</ref> Early [[money]] consisted of [[Commodity money|commodities]]; the oldest being in the form of cattle and the most widely used being [[cowrie shells]].<ref name="www.pbs.org-1996">{{cite web|title=The History of Money|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/history-money/|access-date=11 October 2020|website=www.pbs.org|date=26 October 1996 |language=en-US|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129121807/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/history-money/|url-status=live}}</ref> Money has since evolved into governmental issued [[coins]], [[Paper money|paper]] and [[electronic money]].<ref name="www.pbs.org-1996" /> Human study of economics is a [[social science]] that looks at how societies distribute scarce resources among different people.<ref>{{cite web|title=Why do we need economists and the study of economics?|url=https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2000/july/economics-economists/|access-date=23 October 2020|website=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco|date=July 2000 |language=en|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023941/https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2000/july/economics-economists/|url-status=live}}</ref> There are massive [[Economic inequality|inequalities]] in the division of [[wealth]] among humans; the eight richest humans are worth the same monetary value as the poorest half of all the human population.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Sheskin M|title=The inequality delusion: Why we've got the wealth gap all wrong|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23731710-300-the-inequality-delusion-why-weve-got-the-wealth-gap-all-wrong/|access-date=24 October 2020|website=New Scientist|language=en-US|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203042931/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23731710-300-the-inequality-delusion-why-weve-got-the-wealth-gap-all-wrong/|url-status=live}}</ref>