Much of the scholarship on cross-cultural trade reflects debates about the nature of the modern, European-dominated world economy. Some scholars writing from both liberal and Marxist perspectives have adopted a somewhat Eurocentric view in arguing that cross-cultural trade in premodern times was so small as to have only limited economic and social significance. From this viewpoint, it was only after European mariners linked the world regions into an interdependent global economy that cross-cultural trade became important. Others seeking alternatives to Eurocentric views have recognized considerable significance in premodern trade. Granting that premodern trade was less voluminous than modern and contemporary trade, recent studies have shown that it nevertheless deeply influenced all societies involved in cross-cultural exchange. It has become clear, for example, that premodern trade often involved large cargoes of bulk commodities as well as luxury goods and that it helped to shape the economies and societies of peoples participating in cross-cultural trade. Even when it involved small volumes of luxury goods, premodern trade had important cultural and political implications, since expensive and exotic items from afar often served as prestige goods consumed by elite classes in trading societies. Furthermore, the establishment of trade networks facilitated biological, technological, and cultural as well as commercial exchanges.