At the brink of the Iron Age, Eurasia was a connected world, but can it be seen as an example of a globalized world as well? What can be learnt about ancient people’s ‘awareness’ of other societies when we study the long-distance exchange of precious items? This paper will argue that demonstrating ancient connectivities is not the same as proving globalization. Focusing on the case of the early first millennium BC, this paper will deal with this question. This is done by adopting a ‘practice’ perspective to material culture. The paper will indentify some remarkable shared ‘codes of conduct’ between Early Iron Age elites, but also highlight that the current focus on globalization may lead to a severely biased picture of ancient Europe, disregarding the 99 % of non-elite Europeans.