Description
Book SynopsisThe Maritime Silk Road foregrounds the numerous networks that have been woven across oceanic geographies, tying world regions together often far more extensively than land-based routes. On the strength of the new data which has emerged in the last two decades in the form of archaeological findings, as well as new techniques such as GIS modelling, the authors collectively demonstrate the existence of a very early global maritime trade. From architecture to cuisine, and language to clothing, evidence points to early connections both within Asia and between Asia and other continents—well before European explorations of the Global South. The human stories presented here offer insights into both the extent and limits of this global exchange, showing how goods and people travelled vast distances, how they were embedded in regional networks, and how local cultures were shaped as a result.
Table of ContentsIllustrations
Acknowledgments
(Franck Billé, Sanjyot Mehendale, and James W. Lankton) Introduction
Globalities
1. (Eivind Heldaas Seland) Spaces, Places and Things: The Spatial Dimension of Early Indian Ocean Exchange
2. (Hyunhee Park) Open Space and Flexible Borders: Theorizing Maritime Space through Premodern Sino-Islamic Connections
3. (James W. Lankton) From Regional to Global: Early Glass and the Development of the Maritime Silk Road
Regional Nodes
4. (Jun Kimura) Archaeological evidence of shipping and shipbuilding along the Maritime Silk Road
5. (Ariane De Saxcé) Networks and cultural mapping of South Asian maritime trade
6. (Shadreck Chirikure) Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean World: Relocating Agency From “Center” to “Periphery,” From the Maritime Silk Road to the Maritime Ivory Route
Localities
7. (John N. Miksic) Chinese Ceramics on the Maritime Silk Road The Importance of Context
8. (Derek Heng) Urban Demographics along the Maritime Asian Silk Road: Archaeological Small Finds and Settlement Patterns at Pre-Modern Port-Settlements of the Malay Region
9. (Osmund Bopearachchi) Indian Ocean Trade through Buddhist Iconographies
Contributors
Index
