I don't know if this is a bug necessarily, but in my first epic game of Conquests, Small Wonders never become available, and neither does trading maps in the Diplomacy screen. Unusual...

Okay, score one for the "Read More, Post Less" school of thought:

Chieftess wrote in another thread:
Communications Trading has been pushed back to Printng Press, and Map Trading to Navigation.

One down, one to go...

What Small Wonder are you refering to?

I think the OCN was raised (so the Forbidden Palace would be delayed). Not positive about that, though.