When globalisation really began

GLOBALISATION started much earlier than you might expect - in AD 1000.

That is when, as incontrovertible archeological evidence shows, the Vikings left their home region of Scandinavia, crossed the North Atlantic and landed in northeastern Canada. The Norse voyages linked existing pathways across North and South America with those across Afro-Eurasia. As new pathways opened on continents, merchants, goods, technologies and religions moved around the globe for the first time. Regional networks joined together to tie a loop around the globe.

As the Icelandic sagas inform us, trading began almost immediately with a premium placed on novel goods. When the locals exchanged furs for wool cloth the Vikings had dyed red, they tied the lengths of red wool around their heads. As supplies began to run out, the Norse cut shorter and shorter pieces, some no "wider than a finger's width". Still the locals offered full pelts for the scraps. Even in those early encounters, the lure of a new product - red cloth - cast a mesmerising spell on consumers, just as excited purchasers today clamour for the latest Nike sneakers.