Following the invention of metalworking and other early technologies (such as calendars, the wheel, animal husbandry, masonry, etc.) a complex economy began to emerge, connecting the entirety of Oceanyka in a web of trade routes. This economy had the following characteristics:
- Coexistence and trade between nomadic groups and agricultural societies. The former (which inhabited regions closer to or within the Outback) produced a surplus of milk, meat, bone, leather and wool, which were traded with the latter (inhabiting the Murray-Darling Basin) for grain and metal tools.
- Long and complex trade routes, as no city-state was particularly capable of producing everything which they needed. The raw materials required to produce bronze were a particularly important source of continental trade, as this alloy's constituent metals rarely appear together.
- The construction of large public works using surplus labour; canals, ditches, dams, buildings, temples and most importantly roads were built throughout Oceanyka to help manage its growing city-states and ease the lives of the population. Amongst these The Imperial Cenotaph, The World's End Beacon and The Obelisk stand out.
The partial destruction of Oceanyka's commercial networks and centres of production during the Ferozen Invasion was one of the determinants of the Economy of Dark Age Oceanyka.