The Archaeology of Modern Worlds in the Indian Ocean

This volume explores the importance of the Indian Ocean region to the emergence of modernity and globalization through a historical archaeological approach. Case studies from Zanzibar, Mauritius, and the Mascarene islands, India, Indonesia, Java, and other locations emphasize networks and connections across the Indian Ocean, and discuss the material history of domestic areas, religious structures, and colonial outposts, the structure of the slave trade, and the everyday implications of disease and health management within laboring populations.

Format: Hardback
Length: 270 pages
Publication date: 19 December 2023
Publisher: University Press of Florida

The Indian Ocean region has played a crucial role in the emergence of modernity and globalization, as evidenced by a collection of case studies featured in this volume. Spanning a wide geographical area and drawing comparisons across sites, the contributors employ a historical archaeological approach to explore a range of topics related to colonialism, labor, race, ethnicity, diaspora, human-environment relationships, and heritage.

Case studies from Zanzibar, Mauritius, and the Mascarene islands in India, Indonesia, Java, and other locations highlight the interconnectedness and networks across the Indian Ocean. Contributors employ diverse disciplinary methods, including bioanthropology, analysis of medieval illustrations and colonial documents, architectural history, and anthropology of built space, to examine the material history of domestic areas, religious structures, and colonial outposts. They also delve into the structure of the slave trade, the everyday implications of disease and health management within laboring populations, and the ways in which this region shaped the modern world.

By centering European narratives and actors, this volume seeks to challenge the dominant narrative and showcase the significant ways in which the Indian Ocean region shaped the modern world. By highlighting the experiences of ordinary people in East Africa and South and Southeast Asia, the research in these chapters contributes to a better understanding of histories in the Global South over the last four hundred years.

The contributors to this volume are a diverse group of specialists from various fields, including history, archaeology, anthropology, and geography. Their expertise and insights provide a comprehensive examination of the Indian Ocean region's role in the emergence of modernity and globalization, and their research offers valuable insights into the complex and multifaceted processes that have shaped our world today.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813069845