Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Indian Ocean trade'

This study reconceptualises Sri Lanka's external trade and interactions from the middle of the first millennium BC to the early second millennium AD. Unlike earlier analyses, mine draws on the excavated material culture from three port-cum-urban centres - Mantai, Kantharodai and Kirinda - which were linked to major urban complexes, interior resource bases and Indian Ocean maritime networks. The scale and intensity of their external trade and connectivity, crafts and industries varied greatly over time and location. My findings illustrate Sri Lanka's earliest cultural-commercial connections with India from the middle of the first millennium BC. By the beginning of the CE, islanders were trading with the Middle East and the Mediterranean in the west and Southeast Asia and China in the east. The Middle East was a particularly strong connection from about the mid-3^rd century. Materials from Southeast Asia and China arrive by the late 7^th/8^th centuries, with the focus of external trade shifting away from the Middle East to the Far-East around the end of the 10^th century, lasting until the 12^th/13^th centuries and beyond. My findings demonstrate that internal developments in irrigated agriculture, iron technology, crafts, industries and procurement-distribution networks were crucial for external trade and connectivity. Contrary to the traditional view, I identify local agency as an important driving force behind both internal and external trade in ancient Sri Lanka. The island's external connectivity did not depend on a single factor but was based on specific historical realities which were constantly redefined and reformulated in response to the changing dynamics within and outside Sri Lanka.

Os sítios arqueológicos de Sumhuram (séculos III a II aC - início V dC) e Inqitat (primeiro milénio aC - séculos I a II dC) estão envolvidos num dos exemplos mais importantes de rede de comércio a grande escala na antiguidade: a rede de comércio marítimo no Oceano Índico. Ambos, localizados na Província de Dhofar (Omã), ao longo do Wadi Darbat, estiveram diretamente envolvidos neste intercâmbio, sendo um exemplo extraordinário da sua complexidade. A atenção deste trabalho está focada na caracterização do material cerâmico Local e Indiano, de ambos os locais, abrangendo idades desde o final do primeiro milénio aC até ao século IV dC. Realizou-se uma abordagem multi-analítica complementar com o objetivo de caracterização das cerâmicas e validação das proveniências resultantes da abordagem tipológica. As técnicas utilizadas na análise foram Difração de raio-X (XRD), Análise Petrográfica, Espectrometria de massa por plasma acoplado indutivamente (ICP-MS), perda ao rubro (LOI) e Microscopia eletrónica de varrimento acoplado a espectroscopia de energia dispersiva de raios-X (SEM- EDS). Os resultados obtidos identificam 8 grupos distintos com base na composição-fabric (desengordurante rico em conchas (ST), desengordurante rico em argilito (SF), fabric rico em talco (TF), fabric rico em basalto (BF), desengordurante rico em arroz (RT), material fino (FF), desengordurante médio-grosseiro em fabric fino (MLF) e desengordurante rico em conchas e areia (SSF)) traduzindo assinaturas geológicas muito distintas e destacando assim a enorme variabilidade na origem das matérias-primas. A maioria dos grupos tipológicos definidos como Indianos são aqui confirmados como provenientes do subcontinente indiano, mas a classificação tipológica existente não reflete o agrupamento fabric-composicional. Dentro dos grupos Locais (ST, SF e TF), a presença do grupo de cerâmica rica em talco (TF) e proveniente do Iémen levanta a discussão sobre o significado de “Local”. Embora não seja possível associar diferentes matérias-primas com rotas comerciais estabelecidas, a variabilidade dos grupos indianos identificados implica a participação de várias áreas do subcontinente indiano na rede de comércio do Oceano Índico: Gujarat e a região centro-oeste, sul da Índia, Sri Lanka e a planície aluvial do norte da Índia. Os resultados destacam a grande extensão geográfica da rede de comércio, mas mais importante, sublinham o papel fundamental da abordagem multi-analítica no apoio à identificação de proveniências, representando o ponto de partida para uma nova abordagem de base científica para o fenómeno da globalização do Oceano Índico; Abstract: Multi-analytical characterization of ceramics from Dhofar (Southern Oman): provenance and trade. The archaeological sites of Sumhuram (3rd -2 nd century BC until the early 5th century AD) and Inqitat (1st millennium BC until the 1st -2 nd century AD), are involved in one of the most important examples of large-scale trade network in the antiquity: the maritime trade network connecting the coasts of the Indian Ocean. Both sites, located in the Governorate of Dhofar in Oman, along the Wadi Darbat, were directly involved in the network being an extraordinary example of its complexity. The attention of this work is focused on the material characterization of both local and Indian pottery from both sites spanning from the late 1st millennium BC until the 4th century AD. A multianalytical complementary approach was carried out in order to characterize the ceramics and validate the provenance identification resulting from the typological approach. The techniques used in the analysis are X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), petrographic analysis, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Loss on Ignition (LOI) and Scanning Electron Microscope coupled to Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The results obtained identify 8 different fabric-compositional groups (Shell-Temper (ST), Shalerich Fabric (SF), Talc-rich Fabric (TF), Basalt-rich Fabric (BF), Rice Temper (RT), Fine Fabric (FF), Medium-Large temper grains in fine Fabric (MLF) and the Shell and Sand rich Fabric (SSF)) with very distinct geological signatures highlighting the enormous variability in the origin of raw materials. Most of the typological groups defined as Indian are here confirmed as actually from India, but the specific typological classification does not reflect the fabric grouping. Within local groups (ST, SF and TF) the presence of a pottery group (TF) coming from Yemen raises the discussion about the meaning of “local”. Although it is not possible to associate different raw materials with specific known commercial routes, the variability of the Indian fabric-compositional groups indicates the participation of several areas of the Indian subcontinent in the Indian Ocean trade network: Gujarat and the central-west region, south of India, Sri Lanka and the alluvial plane of the north of India. The results highlight the large geographical extension of the trade network, but, more importantly, they underline the fundamental role of multi-analytical approach in support to the provenance identification representing the starting point for a new scientific-based approach to the Indian Ocean globalisation phenomenon.

My dissertation traces how the interplay of trafficking and regulation shaped free trade in the Arabian Sea. It explores trafficking in the littoral region stretching from western India to the Swahili Coast, as it evolved under colonial regulation. British officials wanted commercial practices in the Arabian Sea to conform to their perception of free trade, but their dedication to laissez-faire policies prevented them from intervening directly in trade. But smuggling provided the perfect justification for intervention. Colonial regulation focused on four illicit arenas that structured free trade: labor, security, finance and transportation. The suppression of the slave trade would produce wage labor. The suppression of the arms traffic would eliminate violence from trade. The regulation of currency arbitrage would create a stable monetary standard. Finally, the regulation of shipping would develop a transportation system which could incorporate distance into the calculation of price. Yet these regulatory efforts were frustrated by merchant networks which exploited the gaps in the enforcement of these regulations. Merchants co-opted regulators, circumvented regulations and evaded policing in order to structure transactions to their own advantage. Thus my dissertation demonstrates how free trade in the Arabian Sea was framed through this intricate interplay of trafficking and regulation.
History

The Indian Ocean represents one of the oldest exchange networks connecting South-East-Asia with India, the Arabian peninsula, as far as Africa in the West. Since the beginning of the Common Era, extensive trade between geographically distant and culturally diverse people enabled the transmission of not only new technologies, exotic goods and food items, but also diverse plant and animal species. Although archaeological remains, particularly from the 1st millennium AD, reflect an intensification of maritime connectivity across the Indian Ocean, the exact routes of travel and trade across this vast area in early times are still subject to discussion. This thesis presents different projects that aim to assess the potential of using commensal animals, such as the house mouse Mus musculus, the black rat Rattus rattus, and the Asian house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus, as proxies to infer pathways of human travel and trade. Commensal species are usually small animals, that live in close association with humans and opportunistically exploit their habitat and food sources. Utilisation of these new resources has led to a close relationship between humans and certain species, and thus favoured their global distribution due to translocations through humans. Therefore, genetic analyses from modern and museum samples of the species in question have been employed, and embedded in a phylogeographic approach. This integrative methodology connects genealogy and geography, with the aim to reconstruct evolutionary, demographic, and biogeographic processes that led to the contemporary distribution of genetic lineages of the commensal species and subsequently mirrors travel routes of the humans who carried them. The incorporation of ancient DNA analysis provides a powerful method, not only enabling the detection of source populations, but direct monitoring of their genetic change through time. Given that people have moved them around for a long time, undirected distribution pattern of populations were expected for each species. However, the results demonstrate that several unique and geographically restricted lineages have been identified, reflecting past human-mediated translocation throughout the Indian and Pacific Ocean from the 1st millennium AD onwards.

Glass beads comprise the most frequently found evidence of trade between southern Africa and the greater Indian Oceanbetween the 7th and 16th centuries AD.  In this thesis beads recovered from southern African archaeological sites are organized into series, based on morphology and chemical composition determined by LA-ICP-MS analysis.  The results are used to interpret the trade patterns and partners that linked eastern Africa to the rest of the Indian Ocean world, as well as interconnections between southern Africa andEast Africa.   Comprehensive reports on bead assemblages from several archaeological sites are presented, including: Mapungubwe, K2 and Schroda in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin; Chibuene in southern Mozambique; Hlamba Mlonga in eastern Zimbabwe; Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, Kaole Ruins in Tanzania and Mahilaka in northwest Madagascar.  The conclusions reached show that trade relationships and socio-political development in the south were different from those on the East Coast and that changes in bead series in the south demonstrate it was fully integrated into the cycles of the Eurasian and African world-system.

Collecting sea cucumbers to supply the high value Chinese dried seafood market is a livelihood activity available to many people in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), making it an important part of local economies. These fisheries are generally not successfully managed and tropical sea cucumber fisheries show continuing signs of decline. This thesis takes a social-ecological systems approach to guide better management of sea cucumber fisheries and aquaculture in the WIO. Papers 1 and 2 analyse the fishery situation in Zanzibar and find that in the absence of effective management institutions and income alternatives among fishers, leading to dependence, there are unsustainable expanding processes. Paper 3 compares the unmanaged fishery in Zanzibar to the highly controlled situation in Mayotte. In Mayotte, a protection effect is evident and the commercial value of stocks is significantly higher than in Zanzibar. The analysis of the situation in Mayotte demonstrates the importance of matching the fishery – management temporal scales through prepared and adaptive management to avoid processes that reinforce unsustainable expansion. Paper 4 analyses sea cucumber community spatial distribution patterns at a coastal seascape-scale in Mayotte establishing baseline patterns of habitat utilization and abundance, which can be used as reference in management. Paper 5 reviews the potential for sea cucumber aquaculture in the WIO. The review illustrates that this activity, which is currently gaining momentum, does so based on inflated promises and with significant social-ecological risks. Emphasis for improvements is, in this thesis, placed on the importance of prepared and adaptive institutions to govern and control expanding processes of the fishery. These institutional features may be achieved by increasing the level of knowledge and participation in governance and by integration of sea cucumber resources management into higher-level policy initiatives.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript.

Chinese Ceramics have been among the most important archaeological findings in the study of trade in the Indian Ocean from the 8th to the 19th centuries. They have the advantages of commonality, durability, identity and being unearthed in large quantities. Chinese ceramics provide clues for understanding trading trends and linking the Chinese production industries to consumption markets in the Indian Ocean. However, it seems that their crucial importance for field archaeology in the western Indian Ocean has not been well established, due to the lack of a comprehensive overview of Chinese traded ceramic archaeology and a systematic classification. The thesis is concerned with how Chinese trade ceramics impacted on maritime trade in the western Indian Ocean from the 8th to the 16th century. Based on an archaeological report collecting data from 140 ceramic kiln sites in China and on archaeological ceramic material collected from 129 coastal sites and collections in the western Indian Ocean, this thesis has reviewed the archaeological and chronological development of Chinese trade ceramics. A systematic classification of Chinese trade ceramics in the western Indian Ocean has been developed and built, introduced with a review of the long-term history and researched using quantitative methods.

Religion
Ph.D.
This study brings excerpts from the Acts of Thomas (Act 1.11-16 and Act 3.30-33) together with two Buddhist jātakas (Udaya Jātaka - #458 and Visavanta Jātaka -#69) to consider how stories might have been transmitted in the early centuries of the common era in a milieu of mercantile exchange on the Indian Ocean. The Acts of Thomas is a 3rd century CE Syriac Christian text concerned with the apostle Thomas proselytizing in India. The jātakas are popular didactic narratives with a pronounced oral dimension that purport to be accounts of the Buddha’s previous lives. Syriac Christians possessed knowledge about Indian religious practices linked to renunciation, and it is plausible that they adapted Buddhist jātakas to convey Christian ideas in the account of Thomas journeying to India and converting people there. Epigraphic evidence from the western Deccan in India attests to yavana, or Greek, patronage of Buddhist institutions in cosmopolitan settings where ideas and commodities circulated. Against the grain in scholarship on early Christianity that tends to privilege Latin and Greek sources, this project moves the lens of analysis eastward to consider Indian influence on early Christianity as expressed in the Acts of Thomas. A literary comparison of the texts under consideration with reference to the historical and cultural context of exchange reveals similar models of renunciant practices in Buddhism and Christianity that establishes new grounds for consideration of interconnectivity across ‘East’ and ‘West.’
Temple University--Theses

La présente étude explore les relations maritimes établies pour des raisons commerciales entre le monde méditerranéen, l’Inde du Sud et Sri Lanka, entre le IIIe siècle av. n.è. et le VIIe siècle de n.è. Il s’agit dans un premier temps d’élaborer une synthèse quantifiée des imports issus du monde gréco-romain d’après les vestiges archéologiques découverts en Asie du Sud, en les confrontant aux autres types de sources. Cette synthèse nous conduit à nous pencher sur les contacts culturels que les liens commerciaux ont favorisé dans leur sillage : transferts, métissages, imitations et appropriations. Dans un dernier temps, ce sont les flux inverses qui ont fait l’objet de notre attention, décelables à travers les objets exportés par l’Inde et Sri Lanka vers les côtes de l’Arabie, de l’Afrique, du golfe Persique et de la mer Rouge. Il apparaît que les témoignages du commerce n’impliquent pas de très grandes quantités échangées mais n’ont pas été dénués malgré tout d’un impact certain sur les sociétés. Ainsi se tissent des réseaux complexes qui impliquent tous les acteurs de cette zone géographique, dont les extrémités est et ouest que sont l’Asie et la Méditerranée constituent une des facettes
This dissertation deals with the maritime connections that took place between South Asia (South India and Sri Lanka) and the Mediterranean world between the 3rd c. BCE and the 7th c. CE. It first establishes a global account of the archaeological remains found in South Asia that show the importation of Mediterranean products into this area, by comparison with other types of sources (texts, inscriptions, coins). The study then proceeds towards the social and cultural impact that these imported goods may have had on local populations, with regard to their proper way of appropriating foreign sources of inspiration depending on the regional context. Lastly, attention has been drawn on the return flow of goods from East to West, through archaeological vestiges located on the coasts of Egypt, Africa, Arabia and in the Persian Gulf. This leads to a reassessment of the global quantity of commercial goods crossing this large area, which may have been inferior to what was previously considered, whereas the social and cultural impact is not to be denied. The full picture of these interactions gives an image of a very intricate and complex network, involving lots of intermediaries, middlemen and local networks, which would have created a strong background for the direct long-distance links

Les recherches sur les compagnies françaises des Indes orientales connaissent depuis trois décennies un nouvel élan. Si aujourd’hui les volets économiques, administratifs et politiques du fonctionnement de cette aventure mercantile et de la présence française dans l’océan Indien sont bien connus, le cadre de vie quotidien de ses acteurs dans les comptoirs l’est beaucoup moins. Cette thèse propose de se concentrer sur la société française de Pondichéry et sur son environnement quotidien en prenant comme point de départ sa culture matérielle. À partir des archives notariales françaises de l’Inde au XVIIIe siècle, il est possible de redessiner cette société ultramarine et de saisir bien plus que le simple environnement matériel. Les modalités de l’implantation et de l’adaptation des Européens en Inde, peuvent ainsi être précisées. Ensuite, la structure proprement matérielle est identifiable : les approvisionnements des possessions françaises de l’océan Indien qui définissent la consommation, les choix et les logiques d’aménagement intérieur, etc. Enfin, l’environnement culturel dans lequel les européens évoluent dans les comptoirs de l’Inde est accessible, notamment grâce à l’étude du degré d’ancrage des individus dans la culture de l’océan Indien. Ont-ils cherché à préserver leur culture européenne, ou se sont-ils « indianisés » ? Des différences sont-elles visibles selon les époques, les catégories sociales et professionnelles étudiées ? Pour répondre à ces questions, les collections des musées européens et asiatiques, ainsi que le patrimoine architectural des comptoirs français de l’Inde du XVIIIe siècle, viendront enrichir et compléter les sources d’archives
Over the last three decades research on the French East India Company has seen a new impetus. If today the economic, administrative and political functioning components of this mercantile adventure and the French presence in the Indian Ocean are well known, the milieu quotidian of its players in the trading posts are less such. The present thesis focuses on French society in Pondicherry and on its daily environment, material culture being its starting point. Using the French notarial archives of India in the XVIII century, it is possible to redraw this ultramarine society and to understand much more than the simple material environment. The methods of the establishment and of the European adaptation in India can thus be clarified. Afterwards, the strictly material structure is identifiable: the supply of French possessions of the Indian Ocean, which define the consumption, the logic and choices of internal organization, etc. Finally, the cultural environment in which Europeans evolve in the Indian trading posts is accessible, notably as a result of studying individual’s degree of integration into the Indian Ocean culture. Did they seek to preserve their own European culture or were they ‘indianised”? Are there some differences noticeable according to the period, social categories and professionals studied? To answer these questions, the European and Asian museum’s collections, as well as the French trading posts architectural patrimony of India in the XVIII century, will enhance and complete the archive sources

Au travers d’une monographie des sites archéologiques d’Acoua, village de parler kibushi kimaore situé au nord-ouest de Grande Terre, cette recherche propose d’étudier la période des XIIe-XVIe siècles à Mayotte. Cette période est caractérisée par d’importants changements culturels, religieux et politiques conduisant à l’instauration progressive d’une société stratifiée et islamisée. Il sera notamment question, au travers des thématiques explorées par notre étude archéologique (pratiques funéraires, évolutions de la culture matérielle, intégration dans les réseaux marchands de l’océan Indien), de déterminer les filiations et processus culturels qui ont contribué à façonner la société ancienne de Mayotte, île dont le peuplement complexe, caractéristique des cultures dites « de franges », selon l’expression popularisée dans cette partie du monde par Paul Ottino, est située à la rencontre de grandes aires culturelles : monde africain bantou, monde malgache et monde arabo-persan, hissant cette île de l’archipel comorien au rang de véritable interface culturelle, commerciale et migratoire entre l’Afrique et Madagascar, « plaque tournante et microcosme de l’océan Indien » pour reprendre l’expression de Claude Allibert
Through this monograph of Acoua’s archaeological sites - a Kibushi kimaore speaking village located in the northwest of Grande Terre - this research proposes to study the XIIth-XVIth centuries period, in Mayotte. This period is characterized by important cultural, religious and political changes leading to the gradual establishment of a stratified and Islamized society. It will be question here, through the themes explored by our archaeological study (funerary practices, evolutions of material culture, integration in the Indian Ocean trading networks), to determine the cultural affiliations and processes that have contributed to shaping Mayotte’s ancient society, an island whose complex settlement, characteristic of cultures known as "fringes" - according to the expression popularized in this part of the world by Ottino - is located at the meeting of meany great cultural areas: African Bantou world, Malagasy world and Arab-Persian world, hoisting this island of the Comorian archipelago to the rank of true cultural, commercial and migratory interface between Africa and Madagascar : a "hub and microcosm of the Indian Ocean", to use the expression of Claude Allibert

La traite des esclaves à Madagascar a provoqué de changements importants tout au long du XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, aussi bien sur le plan politique, qu’économique et social. Les Néerlandais et les Français, présents à la colonie du Cap et aux Mascareignes étaient des acteurs de taille dans ces interactions commerciales complexes et symboliques. Des transformations sont perceptibles dès les premiers contacts, non seulement au sein des grands royaumes sakalava et betsimisaraka mais également jusqu’aux régions les plus recluses. Pourtant, les relations commerciales se complexifient dans la longue durée. En effet, une certaine continuité est identifiable sur toute la période étudiée. Le commerce maritime qui jouait un rôle primordial dans ces développements, concernait riz, bétail et captifs échangés contre piastres, armes à feu et toiles. Il a bouleversé la balance des pouvoirs et l’économie de la Grande Île. Le volume de la traite, calculé à partir de centaines d’expéditions néerlandaise et française, était déjà très substantiel avant le milieu du XVIIIe siècle
The slave trade on Madagascar provoked important changes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both politically, economically and socially. The Dutch and the French, present on Cape Colony and the Mascarene Islands, were important players in these commercial, but complex and symbolic, interactions. The transformations are detectable from the first contact onwards, not only in the great kingdoms of Sakalava and Betsimisaraka but also in the most secluded areas. However, commercial relations complexified in the longue durée. Indeed, a certain continuity is identifiable during this entire period. The maritime commerce, which played a primary role in these developments, concerned rice, cattle and slaves bartered for Spanish dollars, firearms and textiles. The slave trade disturbed the balance of powers and the economy of the Big Island. The volume of the trade, calculated from hundreds expeditions done by the Dutch and the French, was already very substantial before the middle of the eighteenth century

Le commerce de l’encens en péninsule Arabique à la période antique a fait l’objet de nombreuses études historiques et archéologiques. L’objet de cette thèse est de comprendre ce commerce durant la période islamique et en quoi il diffère ou s’inscrit dans la continuité de l’Antiquité. Le cadre chronologique débute au IVe siècle et se termine avec le XVIe siècle. Le terme « encens » est pris dans son sens étymologique de « chose brûlée » désignant ainsi différentes substances et, plus largement, un usage. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, une recherche pluridisciplinaire a été réalisée : elle est basée sur la confrontation des données naturalistes et des sources archéologiques et textuelles. Premièrement, les textes anciens et médiévaux témoignent de l’usage de nombreuses substances, ce qui est confirmé par l’archéologie. En effet, des résidus d’encens provenant de contextes anciens et médiévaux ont pu être identifiés. En outre, l’étude des autels à encens préislamiques et des brûle-parfums islamiques atteste d’un usage de l’encens dans tous les niveaux de la société. Concernant la période islamique, les découvertes archéologiques de ces objets dans des contextes domestiques prouvent un usage généralement profane de l’encens, marquant ainsi une évolution par rapport à la période précédente. Enfin, les sources textuelles et archéologiques s’accordent sur la continuité du commerce malgré des évolutions, comme la progressive prédominance des relations entre l’Arabie et l’Extrême-Orient
The Ancient incense trade in the Arabian Peninsula has been much studied. The aim of this thesis is to understand this trade during the Islamic period and to identify the differences and the continuity comparing to Antiquity. The chronological frame runs from the 4th century AD to the 16th century AD. The word « incense » refers here to the etymological meaning of « burned products » and therefore describes many substances and more generally a practice. A multidisciplinary study has been set up,based on the confrontation of naturalist, textual and archaeological data. Firstly, the ancient andmedieval texts describing a wide range of products have been confirmed by archaeology. Indeed,residues found in ancient and medieval contexts have been identified. Moreover, the study of the pre-Islamic incense altars and that of the Islamic incense-burners shows the use of incense in every level of the society. Regarding the Islamic period, the incense-burners were more generally found in domestic contexts compared to the previous period. Finally, the textual and archaeological sources show the continuity of the incense trade despite evolutions like the progressive predominance of the relations between Arabia and Far East

The port site of Berenike Troglodytica - located on the Egyptian Red Sea coast - served the spice and incense routes that linked the Mediterranean World (specifically the Roman Empire) to India, Southern Arabia and East Africa. In the Greco-Roman period the site was at the cutting edge of what was then the embryonic global economy, ideally situated as a key node connecting Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade for almost 800 years. It is now located in an arid, marginal, hostile environment but the situation must have been very different 2300 years ago, at the time of its founding. At the time of elephant-hunting trips during the Hellenistic period before the inception of its important role in the global markets of the day in the Roman period Berenike would have to have looked much different to what we can now imagine. What was it like then, when the first prospectors visited this location at the time of Ptolemy II? Why this particular place, and this particular landscape setting seemed such a propitious location for the siting of an important new harbour? Given the importance of the port over almost a millennium it is perhaps surprising that very little is known about the different factors impacting on the foundation, evolution, heyday and subsequent decline of the city; or the size, shape, and capacity of its harbour. The intention of this research is to address this shortfall in our knowledge, to examine the drivers behind the rise and fall of this port city, and to explore the extent to which the dynamics of the physical landscape were integral to this story. Using an innovative Earth Science approach, changes in the archaeological 'coastscape' have been reconstructed and correlated with periods of occupation and abandonment of the port, shedding light on the nature, degree and directionality of human-environment interactions at the site. This work has revealed profound changes in the configuration of the coastal landscape and environment (including the sea level) during the lifespan of Berenike, highlighting the ability of people to exploit changes in their immediate environment, and demonstrating that, ultimately, the decline of the port was partly due to these landscape dynamics. To further explore these themes the landscape reconstructions have been supplemented by semi-quantitative analyses of a suite of variables likely to influence the initial siting of new ports of trade. These have shown that although the site of Berenike was ideal in terms of its coastal landscape potential, possessing a natural sheltered bay and lagoon system, the choice of location was not solely influenced by its environmental conditions. Additionally, a detailed review of vessels that plied Red Sea and Indian Ocean routes is presented here in order to better understand the design and functioning of Berenike's harbour. This serves the purpose of identifying unifying features that provide more detail about the size and draught of vessels and the potential capacity of the harbour basin. By using this multi-scalar approach it has been possible to reconstruct the 'coastscape' of the site through the key periods of its occupancy and those phases immediately before and after its operation. This has wide-ranging implications for researchers studying ancient ports along this trade network as a larger database will tease out more details about how influential the landscape was in the initial siting of the port and its subsequent use and decline.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Pb and Pb isotopes in the ocean have varied on decadal to centennial time scales due to anthropogenic Pb inputs. Thus, tracing the temporal variation of Pb and Pb isotopes in the ocean provides information on the major sources of Pb and the transport of Pb from sources to the ocean surface and into the ocean interior. In this thesis study, first, a method was developed for the analysis of dissolved Pb and other trace elements in seawater using single batch nitrilotriacetate resin extraction and isotope dilution ICP-MS, which was applied in analyzing seawater Pb concentrations in the rest of the study. A -550 year history of the Pb and Pb isotopes in the deep North Atlantic Ocean is reconstructed using a deep-sea coral, showing the infiltration of anthropogenic Pb to deep sea. Comparing the results to the surface North Atlantic Ocean Pb record using a Transit Time Distribution model, the mean transit time of Pb is estimated to be -64 years. This is longer than the transit time estimate assuming simple advection from a source, showing the importance of advective-diffusive mixing in the transport of Pb to the ocean interior. The later part of the thesis investigates Pb in the Indian Ocean, where no useful Pb data have been previously reported. First, using annually-banded surface growing corals, I reconstruct variations of Pb and isotopes in the surface waters of the central and eastern Indian Oceans during the past half-century. Results of the study show the increase of Pb concentrations from the mid-1970s, and major sources of the Pb are discussed, including leaded gasoline and coal burning, based on their emission histories and Pb isotope signatures. Second, Pb concentration and isotope profiles are presented from the northern and western Indian Oceans. Higher Pb concentrations and lower Pb isotope ratios (206Pb/ 207Pb, 208Pb/207Pb) are found in the upper water column (by Jong-Mi Lee.
Ph.D.