The Sharma horizon: sgraffiato wares and other glazed ceramics of the Indian Ocean trade (ca 980-1150).

International audienceSharma was one of the main ports of the Indian Ocean trade in the medieval period, a transit entrepôt connected with the networks of the Gulf merchants and dated ca 980-1150. Excavations at the site deliver a large amount of local and imported ceramic wares, from China, India, the Gulf area, Eastern Africa and Yemen itself, all dated to this limited time-span which could be named the Sharma horizon. This preliminary study of the glazed ceramics from the first seasons of excavations provides information on the exchange networks in the Indian Ocean as on the characteristics and evolution of the different pottery types at that time