The Archaeology of Modern Worlds in the Indian Ocean

Abstract

Archaeology of the recent past is relatively new to the Indian Ocean region; however, scholars have already noted the need for engaging novel paradigms through material, landscape, and maritime studies based on the historical and cultural contexts of the region. For example, long standing trade-networks between Africa, South Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Australia were a defining feature of the Indian Ocean for centuries before European imperial expansion. European colonists and administrators tapped into these existing systems and social structures in ways we have yet to fully understand. Within this context, the multidisciplinary case studies in this volume examine colonialism, labor, race, ethnicity, diaspora, human-environment relationships, and current heritage issues. In drawing together regionally defined chapters, this volume moves toward the establishment of comparative spatial patterns, artifact typologies, and environmental dynamics. The volume as a whole demonstrates the potential contributions research in the Indian Ocean World can make to historical archaeology broadly.