Entangled at the World's Edge: European Relations with the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, during the Colonial Period

Summary

The Aru Islands of the Maluku region in eastern Indonesia have received little attention from historical archaeologists. However, Aruese people and products played a significant role in Maluku before and after European contact. Aruese trade in staples and luxuries often intersected with much larger, better-known trade networks. Each of these larger networks has left a mark on Aruese culture. In this paper, an archaeological survey and an examination of Aru’s post-contact history reveal important complexities related to Dutch East India Company (VOC) colonialism in Maluku. As indigenous traders adapted to the VOC’s colonization of the nearby Banda Islands, and as some VOC actors took advantage of indigenous trade patterns, a mutually exploitative (and mutually beneficial) relationship developed. This exemplifies a broader complexity in VOC-Maluku relations that historical accounts have often overlooked.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• "Totus mundus agit histrionem": Global and Trans-National Historical Archaeologies   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 236