via Annual Review of Anthropology, October 2023: This review by Abraham highlights the integration of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Red Sea region, the Arab-Persian Gulf, and East and Southern Africa in complex maritime-based networks. New archaeological findings and material evidence, including ceramics, glass, and metal artifacts, challenge traditional interpretations and offer deeper insights into the ancient maritime relations of these interconnected areas.
Scholarship on the ancient Indian Ocean, which stretches deep into the previous century, is available from an array of academic disciplines including but not limited to history, archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, art history, and materials science. It spans from prehistory to the present era and includes evidence ranging from the Mediterranean to East Asia. What binds together the world of Indian Ocean research is an enduring interest in the complex maritime-based links crosscutting this space and—for archaeologists—the movements of cultural elements (objects, ideas, people, etc.) that have left behind some material trace. Recent field projects and materials science studies have greatly expanded this material database, refining (and sometimes challenging) traditional interpretations about Indian Ocean maritime relations. This review presents a streamlined perspective, focusing on recent archaeological contributions about long-distance interregional connections across the Indian Ocean from 500 bce to 1000 ce.
