Archaeologies of Colonialism and Everyday Life in the Indian Ocean World

This session draws together several case studies from the IOW that look at the experiences, environment and conditions of everyday life within colonial contexts, and engage with archaeology's dualistic role in understanding the complexities of the past and heritage in the present. Colonialism in the Indian Ocean world, on the surface, seems analogous to colonialism within the Atlantic world. The same European colonial powers established plantations and trading posts, often on remote islands, built by the labor of enslaved and indentured Africans, Chinese, and South/South East Asians. Yet, more than anything, the vast research and literature on the Atlantic has also taught us that there are a multitude of variables within each colonial context that make the experiences of both colonizers and the colonized distinct. These case studies are new explorations that offer unique comparisons for historical archaeologies that engage in particular with diaspora, indenture and post-slavery contexts.