The use of archaeological data in economics

A new exciting economic literature has recently emerged that goes back to ancient history to explain current differences in culture, institutions, and economic development across the globe. The scarcity of written records to study this period has pushed economists to look at dataset and methodologies developed in archaeology and paleoanthropology. As an illustration of the importance of archaeology to understand persistent differences in economic prosperity, we will review a series of empirical works in economics covering: (1) the onset of regional difference during the Paleolithic and Neolithic, (2) the exceptional persistence of economic disparities across regions and countries, (3) the origin and the role of the first states in explaining the emergence and the persistence of these disparities, (4) the role of ancient trade. The last section provides a primer of some relevant archaeological databases providing important sources for economic studies.