Summarize the social and gender structures of the networks of exchange.

All respective trade networks demonstrated an exchange of cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various societies

Ex. Buddhism along the Silk Roads, Hinduism in the Indian Ocean, Islam in trans-Saharan routes

Commercial improvement led to an increase in the volume of trade among these networks which expanded trade networks

Trade networks promoted new trading cities

Innovations in pre-existing transport and commercial technologies impacted the growth of trade. Innovations such as the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies