RESEARCH BASE
Search 3,721 documents across 34 fields — every claim tier-rated by evidence
3,633 are the core, quality-scored corpus (34 lettered sections — see How We Work); the remaining 88 are cross-corpus synthesis documents (68 InterDocs, 12 Connections, 8 Theories) also indexed here.
322 results for "Indian Ocean trade" — page 5 of 17
S_3_10 — Ocean Technology and Deep-Sea Exploration
The deep ocean remains Earth's most underexplored frontier — less than 25% of the ocean floor has been mapped at high resolution (>100 m), and only a tiny fraction has been directly observed or sampled. Human-occupied ve
F_1_21 — Harappan Maritime Trade: The Meluhha-Dilmun-Magan Network
The Indus Valley (Harappan) civilization (~3300–1300 BCE) operated one of the Bronze Age's most extensive maritime trade networks, connecting the Indian subcontinent to Mesopotamia across the Persian Gulf via the interme
F_1_05 — Chinese Maritime Exploration Before and Including Zheng He
China possessed the world's most advanced maritime technology for centuries, culminating in Admiral Zheng He's seven extraordinary voyages (1405–1433) across the Indian Ocean. With a fleet reportedly comprising 317 ships
F_1_02 — Cocaine and Nicotine in Egyptian Mummies — The Balabanova Controversy
In 1992, German toxicologist Svetlana Balabanova published findings of cocaine, nicotine, and hashish in Egyptian mummies held at the Munich Museum, igniting one of the most contentious debates in archaeology. Since coca
F_1_18 — Harappan Maritime Trade Networks
The Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE) operated one of the Bronze Age's most extensive maritime trade networks, connecting the Indus coast to Mesopotamia via intermediate ports in the Persian Gulf re
F_2_15 — Turquoise Trade Networks: Mesoamerica to American Southwest
Turquoise — the distinctive blue-green copper-aluminum phosphate mineral — was one of the most valued materials in the pre-Columbian Americas, and its trade networks connected the American Southwest to Mesoamerica across
F_2_19 — Obsidian Trade Networks in the Ancient World
Obsidian — volcanic glass formed by rapid cooling of silica-rich lava — was the most extensively traded lithic material in the ancient world, coveted for its conchoidal fracture producing edges sharper than modern surgic
F_2_07 — Salt Trade and Ancient Economies
Salt — sodium chloride (NaCl) — was arguably the most economically important commodity in the ancient and medieval world, rivaling gold and silver in its capacity to generate wealth, shape trade routes, and determine the
F_2_21 — Ancient Pigment and Dye Trade Routes
Pigments and dyes ranked among the most valuable traded commodities in the ancient world — sometimes rivaling precious metals in cost per unit weight. Lapis lazuli traveled over 4,000 km from mines in Badakhshan (Afghani
F_2_12 — Saharan Trade Routes: Gold, Salt, and Knowledge Across the Desert
The trans-Saharan trade routes — a network of caravan trails crossing the world's largest hot desert (~9 million km²) between the Mediterranean coast and sub-Saharan West Africa — were among the most important long-dista
F_2_14 — Ancient Glass Bead Trade: From Mesopotamia to Sub-Saharan Africa
Glass beads are among the most archaeologically informative objects in the ancient world — small, durable, widely traded, and chemically distinctive — making them exceptional tracers of long-distance exchange networks sp
F_2_10 — Jade Trade Networks — Mesoamerica, China, and New Zealand
Jade — a term covering two distinct minerals, nephrite (calcium-magnesium silicate, $\text{Ca}_2(\text{Mg,Fe})_5\text{Si}_8\text{O}_{22}(\text{OH})_2$) and jadeite (sodium-aluminum silicate, $\text{NaAlSi}_2\text{O}_6$)
F_2_08 — Lapis Lazuli Trade Networks
Lapis lazuli — a deep-blue metamorphic rock composed primarily of lazurite — is one of the oldest traded luxury materials in human history, with its distribution across the ancient world providing direct evidence of long
F_2_22 — Ancient Pigment Trade Routes: Lapis Lazuli, Tyrian Purple & Cinnabar
Pigments were among the most valued trade goods of the ancient world, with some traversing distances exceeding 4,000 km from source to final use. Lapis lazuli from the Sar-i Sang mines in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghani
F_2_18 — Ancient Trade in Aromatics: Frankincense, Myrrh, and Sacred Resins
Frankincense (Boswellia sacra and related species) and myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) — aromatic tree resins harvested from the arid landscapes of southern Arabia (Oman's Dhofar region, Yemen's Hadramawt) and the Horn of Afri
F_2_13 — Copper Trade Networks: Great Lakes to Mediterranean
The Great Lakes copper deposits — particularly the vast deposits of native (naturally pure) copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale of Michigan's Upper Peninsula — represent one of the world's most remarkable mi
F_4_23 — Salt Trade Routes: The White Gold of Antiquity
Salt — essential for human survival (minimum ~500 mg sodium/day), food preservation, animal husbandry, and chemical processing — was one of the most traded commodities in human history, generating dedicated trade routes,
F_4_32 — Obsidian Trade Networks: Volcanic Glass and Long-Distance Exchange
Obsidian — volcanic glass formed when felsic lava cools rapidly — was one of the most important raw materials in human prehistory, prized for its ability to produce the sharpest cutting edges known (fracture to edges of
F_4_30 — Salt: History, Preservation, and Global Trade Networks
Salt (sodium chloride) is arguably the most important mineral in human civilization — essential for life, critical for food preservation before refrigeration, and a driver of trade routes, taxation, and conflict across m
F_3_10 — Plague and Disease Transmission Along Trade Routes
The same trade routes and migration corridors that connected distant civilizations also served as highways for pandemic disease, making pathogen transmission one of the most consequential — and devastating — forms of "lo
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