At one point Scientific American had an article which reported that the pigments used in the cave paintings in Spain, circa 25,000 BC, had come from Italy, sugg

At one point Scientific American had an article which reported that the pigments used in the cave paintings in Spain, circa 25,000 BC, had come from Italy, suggesting goods were traveling long distances as early as 25,000 BC. Either one tribe was moving back and forth from Italy to Spain, on a regular basis, or there was a trade network. So to learn that there was an extensive trade network at the end of the Bronze Age is not nearly so exciting, even if the scale of distance is a bit greater. I mean, we already knew there was extensive trade at the end of the Bronze Age, I was taught that when I was in school.