A marketplace, market place, or simply market, is a location (physical or virtual) where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods.: "An open space in a town where a market is or was formerly held. [...] Any place or environment where ideas, etc., are sought or exchanged. [...] The arena of commercial dealings; the world of commerce or trade." In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be labelled a souk (from Arabic), a bazaar (from Persian), a fixed mercado (Spanish), an itinerant tianguis (Mexico), or a palengke (Philippines). Some markets operate daily (permanent markets) while others take place once a week or on less frequent specified days such as festival days (periodic markets). The form that a marketplace takes depends on a locality's population, culture, ambience, and geographic conditions. The term marketplace covers many locations for trading, such as market squares, market halls, food halls, and their different varieties. Marketplaces can be both outdoors and indoors, or (in the modern world) online.
Markets have existed for as long as humans have engaged in trade. The earliest bazaars may have originated in Persia, from where the phenomenon spread to the rest of the Middle East and to Europe. Documentary sources suggest that zoning policies confined trading to particular parts of cities in Iran from around 3000 BCE, providing the pre-conditions for the emergence of a bazaar. Middle Eastern bazaars were typically long strips with stalls on either side and a covered roof to protect traders and purchasers from the fierce sun. In Europe, informal, unregulated markets gradually made way for a system of formal, chartered markets from the 12th century CE. Throughout the medieval period, increased regulation of marketplace practices, especially weights and measures, gave consumers confidence in the quality of market goods and the fairness of prices. Around the globe, markets have evolved in different ways depending on local ambient conditions, especially weather, tradition, and culture. In the Middle East, markets tend to be covered, to protect traders and shoppers from the sun. In milder climates, markets are often open-air. In Asia, a system of morning markets trading in fresh produce and night markets trading in non-perishables is common.
Today, potential customers can access some marketplaces electronically or on the internet through e-commerce or matching platforms. In many countries, shopping at a local market is a standard feature of daily routine. Given the marketplace's role in ensuring food supply for a population, marketplaces are often highly regulated by a central authority. In many places, designated marketplaces have become listed sites of historic and architectural significance and represent part of a town's or a country's cultural assets. For these reasons, they have often become popular tourist-destinations.
Etymology The term market comes from the Latin mercatus ("market place"). The earliest recorded use of the term market in English is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 963, a work that was created during the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899) and subsequently distributed, copied throughout English monasteries. The exact phrase was "", meaning "I desire that there be a market in the same town".
History
In prehistory
Markets have existed since ancient times.Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity", in Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums, Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, pp. 209–250 Some historians have argued that a type of market has existed since humans first began to engage in trade.Twede, D., "Commercial amphoras: The earliest consumer packages?" Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2002, pp 98–108Wengrow, D., "Prehistories of Commodity Branding", Current Anthropology, Vol. 49, No. 1, 2008, pp. 7–34 Open air and public markets were known in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, Greece, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. However, not all societies developed a system of markets.Paquet-Byrne, L., The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping, ECW Press, 2003, pp 13–14 The Greek historian Herodotus noted that markets did not evolve in ancient Persia.
Across the Mediterranean and Aegean, a network of markets emerged from the early Bronze Age. A vast array of goods were traded, including salt, lapis lazuli, dyes, cloth, metals, pots, ceramics, statues, spears, and other implements. Archaeological evidence suggests that Bronze Age traders segmented trade routes according to geographical circuits.Alberti, M. E., "Trade and Weighing Systems in the Southern Aegean from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age: How Changing Circuits Influenced Glocal Measures", Chapter 11 in Molloy, B. (ed.), Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and Modes of Interaction Between Prehistoric Aegean Societies and their Neighbours [Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology], Oxford: Oxbow (e-book), 2016 Both produce and ideas travelled along these trade routes.Herrero, B. L., "An Elite Infested Sea: Interaction and Change in Mediterranean Paradigms", Chapter 2 in Molloy, B. (ed.), Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and Modes of Interaction Between Prehistoric Aegean Societies and their Neighbours [Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology], Oxford: Oxbow (e-book), 2016
In the Middle East, documentary sources suggest that a form of bazaar first developed around 3000 BCE.Mehdipour, H. R. N, "Persian Bazaar and Its Impact on Evolution of Historic Urban Cores: The Case of Isfahan", The Macrotheme Review, Vol. 2, no. 5, 2013, p.13 Early bazaars occupied a series of alleys along the length of the city, typically stretching from one city gate to a different gate on the other side of the city. The bazaar at Tabriz, for example, stretches along kilometers of street and is the longest vaulted bazaar in the world.Mehdipour, H.R.N, "Persian Bazaar and Its Impact on Evolution of Historic Urban Cores: The Case of Isfahan", The Macrotheme Review, Vol. 2, no. 5, 2013, p.14 Moosavi argues that the Middle Eastern bazaar evolved in a linear pattern, whereas the market places of the West were more centralised.Moosavi, M. S. "Bazaar and its Role in the Development of Iranian Traditional Cities", Tabriz Azad University, Iran, 2006 The Greek historian Herodotus noted that in Egypt, roles were reversed compared with other cultures, and Egyptian women frequented the market and carried on trade, while the men remained at home weaving cloth.Thamis, "Herodotus on the Egyptians". Ancient History Encyclopedia. 18 January 2012. He also described the Babylonian marriage market, an account that inspired an 1875 painting by Edwin Long.Herodotus: The History of Herodotus, Book I (The Babylonians), c. 440 BC, translated by G. C. Macaulay, c. 1890
In antiquity
In antiquity, markets were typically situated in the town's centre. The market was surrounded by alleyways inhabited by skilled artisans, such as metal workers, leather workers, and carpenters. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days. Across ancient Greece, market places were to be found in most city states, where they operated within the (open space). Between 550 and 350 BCE, Greek stallholders clustered together according to the type of goods carried – fish-sellers were in one place, clothing in another, and sellers of more expensive goods such as perfumes, bottles, and jars were located in a separate building.McMillan, J., Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets, New York: Norton, 2002, p. 5 The Greeks organised trade into separate zones, all located near the city centre and known as . A freestanding colonnade with a covered walkway, the was both a place of commerce and a public promenade, situated within or adjacent to the agora.Gharipour, M., "The Culture and Politics of Commerce", in The Bazaar in the Islamic City: Design, Culture, and History, Mohammad Gharipour (ed.), New York, The American University in Cairo Press, 2012, p. 4 At the in Athens, officials were employed by the government to oversee weights, measures, and coinage to ensure that the people were not cheated in market place transactions. The rocky and mountainous terrain in Greece made it difficult for producers to transport goods or surpluses to local markets, giving rise to the ,. a specialised type of retailer who operated as an intermediary purchasing produce from farmers and transporting it over short distances to the city markets.
In ancient Rome, trade took place in the forum. Rome had two forums: the Forum Romanum and Trajan's Forum. Trajan's Market at Trajan's forum, built around 100–110 CE, was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront.Coleman, P., Shopping Environments, Oxford: Elsevier, 2006, p. 28 In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling via merchants or peddlers and bartering systems were commonplace. In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Market stall holders were primarily local primary producers who sold small surpluses from their individual farming activities and also artisans who sold leather goods, metalware and pottery. Consumers were made up of several different groups; farmers who purchased minor farm equipment and a few luxuries for their homes and urban dwellers who purchased basic necessities. Major producers such as the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm gates, obviating the producers' need to attend local markets. The very wealthy landowners managed their own distribution, which may have involved importing and exporting. The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and archaeological case studies.Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity", in , Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, p. 229
At Pompeii, multiple markets served the population of approximately 12,000. Produce markets were located in the vicinity of the Forum, while livestock markets were situated on the city's perimeter, near the amphitheatre. A long narrow building at the north-west corner of the Forum was some type of market, possibly a cereal market. On the opposite corner stood the macellum, thought to have been a meat and fish market. Market stall-holders paid a market tax for the right to trade on market days. Some archaeological evidence suggests that markets and street vendors were controlled by the local government. A graffito on the outside of a large shop documents a seven-day cycle of markets: "Saturn's day at Pompeii and Nuceria, Sun's day at Atella and Nola, Moon's day at Cumae", etc. The presence of an official commercial calendar suggests something of the market's importance to community life and trade.Beard, M., The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found, Harvard University Press, 2008; See Chapter 5, "Earning a Living: Baker, Banker and Garum Maker" Markets were also important centres of social life.Millar, F., "The World of the Golden Ass", Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 71, 1981, pp. 63–67
In medieval Europe