Cowry Shell Money and Monsoon Trade: The Maldives in Past Globalizations

This thesis addresses remote island occupation during past globalizations, through an examination of the Maldivian archaeological record. The research is underpinned by three connected research objectives: (1) establishing from where and when Maldivian colonization occurred; (2) examining how globalization is reflected in remote island use; and, (3) exploring the impacts of globalization on ethnogenesis in remote island communities. The Maldives are situated on the Chagos-Laccadives ridge south of Sri Lanka and India in the Indian Ocean and were thought to first be occupied during a Buddhist expansion in the centuries around the BCE/CE transition. The Maldives have been the subject of limited archaeological research and have been exempt from investigations of Indian Ocean globalization and world systems despite their export of one of the earliest global commodities—cowry shell money (Monetaria moneta). The research aims are addressed through the study of Buddhist archaeological sites situated in the north-central, central and southern regions of the Maldives. A detailed assessment of the recovered ceramic material culture, faunal remains and non-ceramic material culture including beads, glasses, metals and carved stones enables an exploration of a global culture present in the Maldives during the early Buddhist occupation period and also the subsequent Islamic phase post-1153 CE. This research presents new radiocarbon dates and a revised settlement chronology for the islands, and offers evidence for human presence in the Maldives c.300 CE. Material culture remains support long-standing trade connections to South Asia (India and Sri Lanka). The thesis concludes that the Maldives were settled from South Asia during an expansion of Buddhism. It also suggests that globalization might be the impetus behind some remote island use and colonization in prehistory, in addition to stimulating ethnogenesis in islander societies. Thus, globalization which is often associated with cultural homogenization is better conceived as also having the capacity to generate significant cultural diversity, especially by implanting highly selected human groups into marginal environments such as remote oceanic islands