The DOI matches its Crossref record; 74 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 6 of the 72 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals
Open accessAbstract
Here is a major research project that is peopling the Indian Ocean with prehistoric seafarers exchanging native crops and stock between Africa and India. Not the least exciting part of the work is the authors' contention that the prime movers of this maritime adventure were not the great empires but a multitude of small-scale entrepreneurs.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
The paper synthesizes archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence for prehistoric Indian Ocean contacts, arguing that small-scale coastal societies—not major empires—drove early translocations of crops, animals, and maritime technology between Africa, Arabia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It traces an Arabian Sea corridor from c. 2000 BC and later Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean linkages through the Iron Age.
Key findings
- African crops including sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet reached South Asia around the end of the Harappan era, with evidence from 33 sites in the second millennium BC; five African crops reached South Asia shortly after c. 2000 BC.
- Broomcorn millet of Chinese origin moved westward by c. 2200 BC, appearing in Pakistan c. 1900 BC, Yemen around 2000 BC, and Sudanese Nubia c. 1700 BC, while absent from Egypt and Mesopotamia; zebu cattle also moved from India to Yemen and East Africa, creating hybrid African taurine–Indian zebu stocks.
- Eastward translocations included Southeast Asian tree crops to South India: mango charcoal at Sanganakallu dates to 1400–1300 BC and sandalwood to c. 1300 BC; bananas/plantains, greater yam, taro, chickens, and commensals moved to Africa, with banana phytoliths in Cameroon implying arrival by c. 500 BC.
- Austronesian sail-boat and outrigger technology, along with related loanwords, spread around the Indian Ocean, reinforcing the role of small-scale seafaring societies in creating early inter-regional contacts.
Methods
- Interdisciplinary synthesis/review drawing on archaeobotany, historical linguistics, genetics, and archaeology to reconstruct prehistoric Indian Ocean translocations.
- Data include archaeological evidence of translocated crop plants, linguistic evidence for tree crops and boat technology, and genetic studies of domesticated and commensal animals across East Africa, Arabia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
- Main analysis integrates these lines of evidence to constrain the timing and geography of contacts and to argue that small-scale coastal societies were the primary agents.
Limitations
- Stated: the authors say “we still have only scattered interdisciplinary puzzle pieces, and are very far from a complete or even near complete picture”; banana phytolith evidence needs further work to rule out other Musa uses; early Ugandan banana claims are dubious due to stratigraphic dating and morphology; chicken bone identification is difficult; commensal dispersal context is unknown; maritime vocabulary has pitfalls; and the drivers of long voyages remain enigmatic.
- Evident from the text: many conclusions rest on indirect or sparse evidence, including single-site phytolith finds, linguistic reconstructions, and genetic phylogeography, with dating and identification uncertainties acknowledged throughout.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
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Claims the paper makes
31 Own interpretation · 20 Sources not found · 14 No full text of the sources · 14 Not checked yet · 12 No basis given · 5 Partly supported · 1 Own method · 1 Own result · accuracy not yet measured
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“whereas peninsular India's grey junglefowl appears to have provided a key gene found in many modern chickens, namely the gene for yellow legs, which are indeed distinct from the red legs of wild red junglefowl, and white and black-legged chickens (Eriksson et al. 2008).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Eriksson et al. 2008 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Results (Phylogenetic Analysis; page unavailable) show that the domestic yellow-skin allele clusters with grey junglefowl sequences, and the Discussion identifies grey junglefowl as its most likely source. The cited passages do not establish the sentence’s specific comparison with red-legged wild red junglefowl and white- or black-legged chickens. (LLM, conf=0.82)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“However, banana phytoliths from the Harappan site of Kot Diji in southern Pakistan (Fuller & Madella 2009) could indicate a westward diffusion of bananas by sea from Island Southeast Asia to the Indus as early as 2000 BC (Figure 2).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Fuller & Madella 2009 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Archaeobotany of South Asia section reports Musa-type phytoliths at Kot Diji in Sindh, Pakistan, dated to 1900–2000 BC at the latest. It considers an early dispersal of edible bananas from Island Southeast Asia but says nonculinary use is a more plausible explanation. It does not establish a sea route to the Indus. (LLM, conf=0.86)
hedgedconditionalSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Partly supported
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Across this area, chickens were probably brought into domestication more than once, as suggested by genetic data, although good zooarchaeological data remains scarce (see Fuller 2007: 400-401; Kanginakudru et al. 2008;Berthouly-Salazar et al. 2010).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Fuller 2007: 400-401
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Supportedcites Kanginakudru et al. 2008 source
The Discussion reports that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes shared between domestic chickens and different red jungle fowl subspecies suggest multiple domestication events. Its Figure 6 caption explicitly says the study supports the multiple-domestication hypothesis. (LLM, conf=0.93)
- Supportedcites Berthouly-Salazar et al. 2010 source
The Background reports genetic evidence that there may have been at least two chicken domestication centres, one in Southeast Asia and one in the Indian subcontinent. This supports the hedged claim that chickens were probably domesticated more than once. (LLM, conf=0.92)
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Claims for earlier bananas in Uganda, at Munsa (Lejju et al. 2006), are more dubious, due especially to stratigraphic dating issues but also due to questions about preserved morphology (Neumann & Hildebrand 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Lejju et al. 2006
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Partly supportedcites Neumann & Hildebrand 2009 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
In “Current archaeobotanical evidence: The state of the art” (page unavailable), the paper questions the Munsa phytoliths’ identification and notes that dating of the lower core relies on interpolation, with a large hiatus between the lower and upper parts. It does not support the claim’s emphasis on stratigraphic dating as the chief problem: it says questions of authenticity relate mainly to identification. (LLM, conf=0.83)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“in contrast, there is now a large accumulation of evidence for these crops in India from the second millennium BC, including finds from 33 sites (Figure 1, right inset).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Iron Age trade is well documented from recent excavations at the urban site of Khao Sam Kaeo in southern Thailand (on the Malay Peninsula) occupied from c. 400 BC (Bellina-Pryce & Silapanth 2008).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Bellina-Pryce & Silapanth 2008
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boostedSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“The first hint of this spice trade comes from the findings of valued black peppercorns that were used to fragrance the nostrils of the deceased Pharaoh Ramses II (c.1200 BC) (Plu 1985).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Plu 1985
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A popular argument has been that these crops arrived in the Harappan urban period (2600-2000 BC), brought by Harappan 'seafarers' (e.g.Possehl 1997), but there is little firm evidence to support this.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Five African crops (Figure 1) reached South Asia shortly thereafter (Boivin & Fuller 2009: 155-60;Fuller & Boivin 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Boivin & Fuller 2009: 155-60
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked yetcites Fuller & Boivin 2009 source
Checked before — its earlier verdict is held back until a new check runs.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Not matched
In the paper
“The high morphological variability of this species in East Africa and the Arabia Peninsula suggests multiple introductions directly from South Asia and from early differentiated types of Southeast Asia (Hutterer & Tranier 1990).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Hutterer & Tranier 1990
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
- It may state two separate claims as one. 29
- Probably not a substantial claim. 4
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Finally, the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus), is also a ship-borne invasive species that originated in South Asia (Yamagata et al. 1995;Kurachi et al. 2007).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Yamagata et al. 1995 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The discussion of genetic variation (p. 10) suggests that musk shrews spread among Southeast Asian islands with humans by ship. The migration discussion (p. 15) favors movement from South India but presents alternative routes, so the South Asian origin is a hypothesis rather than an established fact. The paper does not characterize the species as invasive. (LLM, conf=0.86)
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kurachi et al. 2007 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Partly supported
In the paper
“Evidence for regular trade between India and the Malay Peninsula in the form of Indian-style stone beads and ceramics (Northern Black Polished Ware) is extensive for the later part of the first millennium BC (Bellina & Glover 2004), and predates the Indo-Roman trade era.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Bellina & Glover 2004
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Crop evidence from this site also indicates the presence of Indian domesticates, especially some of the classic pulses for making dal dishes in peninsular India, including mungbean (Vigna radiata) and horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum), both of which had their origins in south India (Castillo & Fuller 2010).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Castillo & Fuller 2010
hedgedcorrelationalSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“In linguistic terms, all of these species date to the same stratum of Dravidian languages, with reconstructible etyma in Proto-South Dravidian, at the same level as textile-related terminology (Fuller 2008), crops of African origins and metallurgical terms, especially for gold and copper (Fuller 2007;also Southworth 2005).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Fuller 2008
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Fuller 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Southworth 2005
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Broomcorn millet is known from other central Asian sites from around 2000 BC and is found in Pakistan at c. 1900 BC, Yemen at around 2000 BC, and in Sudanese Nubia by c. 1700 BC (Figure 1, left inset), while being absent from intervening regions such as Egypt and Mesopotamia (Fuller & Boivin 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Fuller & Boivin 2009 source
Checked before — its earlier verdict is held back until a new check runs.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not checked yet
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Subsequently, contact between sailors and boat-builders from different backgrounds intensified, and at least since Islamic times we can observe many more examples of Indian Ocean maritime vocabulary transgressing linguistic boundaries.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Maritime technology
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“By Iron Age times, systematic trade between urban systems was taking place across the Bay of Bengal and between India and the Red Sea.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“It was present in the Ganges basin from the Chalcolithic period (after 1400 BC), probably infesting dry rice fields (Fuller & Qin 2009: tab.2), and in south India by early historic times (c.300 BC), at Paithan on the Godavari River in Maharashtra (Fuller, unpublished).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Fuller & Qin 2009: tab.2 source
- Not matchedcites Fuller, unpublished
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“zebu cattle added important genetic traits to African cattle”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Archaeological wood charcoal from the Neolithic site of Sanganakallu (Sannarachamma) in south India has produced a few specimens of probable mango, from levels dating to 1400-1300 BC, with probable Citrus as well, which confirms the adoption of these Southeast Asian arboriculture species prior to the Iron Age (Asouti & Fuller 2008: 134).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Asouti & Fuller 2008: 134
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgeddirectSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Nevertheless, the mouse forms found on Madagascar are a genetically distinctive subspecies found otherwise in Yemen (Mus musculus ssp.gentilus), implying movement southwards from Yemen after an introduction to there from India (Duplantier et al. 2002).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Duplantier et al. 2002 source
Checked before — its earlier verdict is held back until a new check runs.
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not checked yet
In the paper
“Given the lack of any other material evidence for Harappan or South Asian contacts with the Red Sea or Africa before 2000 BC, we have argued that this transfer took place primarily between north-east Africa and/or Yemen and western India, probably outside of the context of the Bronze Age trade between major civilisations (Boivin & Fuller 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Boivin & Fuller 2009
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“These include the Areca-nut palm, the nuts of which are chewed as a stimulant together with slaked lime and the leaves of the vine Piper betle.Both are probably from Island Southeast Asia (see e.g.Zumbroich 2007).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Zumbroich 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Other Southeast Asian tree crops may have come to south India via lands to the north, as they have probable origins in north-east India or northern Southeast Asia, around the Assam/Burma/Yunnan area westwards to the eastern Himalayan foothills; these include Citrus medica (the citron, precursor of the lemon) and most domesticated mangos (Mangifera indica) (see Asouti & Fuller 2008: 91, 114-15).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Asouti & Fuller 2008: 91, 114-15
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“It is, of course, well documented that the Harappan civilisation was involved in maritime trade with Oman, Bahrain and Mesopotamia in the second half of the third millennium BC (e.g.Ratnagar 1994;Ray 2003: 84-99).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Ratnagar 1994
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Ray 2003: 84-99
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“But this trade was between urban actors, and increasingly appears to have been built on earlier regional contacts between small-scale coastal fishing and agropastoral societies.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Not the least exciting part of the work is the authors' contention that the prime movers of this maritime adventure were not the great empires but a multitude of small-scale entrepreneurs.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Abstract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“By this period of the later first millennium BC, we are dealing with large urban sites in both India and the Malay Peninsula.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bay of Bengal metal age corridor: trees from the Malay Peninsula and westwards to peninsular India
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“It has been known for many years that some of the major crops of the drier regions of India, such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana), originated in Africa and arrived in India at some point in prehistory (e.g.Possehl 1986;Fuller 2003).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > The Bronze Age inter-savannah translocations (c. 2000-1500 BC): north-east Africa, India, Arabia
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Possehl 1986
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Fuller 2003
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“But this explanation is probably not enough to explain all contact, and perhaps in particular the more long-ranging.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“While some chickens may have first entered Africa overland, moving up the Nile from Egypt to Nubia, historical linguistic data suggest perhaps three separate introductions, including two from the north across the Sahara, and one from the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa (Williamson 2000).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Williamson 2000
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“De Langhe (2007) has made a fairly convincing case for a trans-African dispersal route for the banana, from the East African coast, through the forest patches of Usambara and Pare and along the northern fringe of the equatorial rainforest, into West Africa, from where plantains are argued to have possibly 'fueled' the Bantu expansion.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites De Langhe 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In South Asia, wild bananas and their relatives are few, and their distributions are limited, mainly to the wetter rainforests and moist deciduous hill forests (Fuller & Madella 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Fuller & Madella 2009 source
Checked before — its earlier verdict is held back until a new check runs.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not checked yet
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The banana is another crop-plant that comes from the east, with recent research favouring initial domestication in New Guinea, but probably with additional input of varieties from the Philippines (e.g.Donohoe & Denham 2009;Kennedy 2009).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Donohoe & Denham 2009
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kennedy 2009
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“militate against independent invention in South Asia and/or East Africa”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Maritime technology
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Translocations would have required a broadening of ecological tolerance, or extra efforts in terms of cultural practice.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: The dry tropical woodlands and savannahs dominate much of peninsular India, and the wet tropical forests of Southeast Asia are poorly matched.
In the paper
“All three Asian taxa are found traditionally across the African continent, but their absence from intervening areas like northern India and Arabia makes Murdoch's (1959: 222) hypothesis of a coastal route of transfer problematic, and instead points to a central Indian Ocean corridor (Figure 3).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Murdoch 1959: 222
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: The absence of a taxon from intervening land regions indicates that its dispersal occurred via the Indian Ocean rather than overland.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It is clear, however, that bananas (or plantains) (Musa paradisiaca), are entirely introduced to Africa, as were the greater yam (Dioscorea alata) and taro (Colocasia esculenta).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“As with taro and bananas, chickens appear to be deeply culturally embedded in West and Central African subsistence, suggesting considerable time-depth to their presence, although this is not yet supported by archaeozoology (Williamson 2000;cf. MacDonald 2000).”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Williamson 2000
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites MacDonald 2000
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These included the transfer of words, languages, ideas and technologies, the translocation of species with both positive and negative consequences for future generations, and the alteration of the very genetic make-up of people, plants and animals all around the Indian Ocean.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“although its presence in the Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) of the Near East implies that it dispersed in the absence of human sedentism and perhaps only evolved as a commensal later with the development of Near Eastern agriculture (Auffray et al. 1990); when commensal mice first occurred in South Asia is unknown.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > An Iron Age southern tropics pairing (from c. 500 BC): from South/Southeast Asia to Africa
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Auffray et al. 1990 source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“but knowledge of these patterns, adequate food supplies, and the motivations for long return voyages were also necessary.”
§ Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals > Conclusions
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
The absence of a taxon from intervening land regions indicates that its dispersal occurred via the Indian Ocean rather than overland.
“apparently via the Indian Ocean based on their absence from the flora of intervening land regions (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran).”
“their absence from intervening areas like northern India and Arabia makes Murdoch's (1959: 222) hypothesis of a coastal route of transfer problematic, and instead points to a central Indian Ocean corridor (Figure 3).”
The paper relies on this without support.
The dry tropical woodlands and savannahs dominate much of peninsular India, and the wet tropical forests of Southeast Asia are poorly matched.
“the dry tropical woodlands and savannahs that dominate much of peninsular India are poorly matched with the wet tropical forests of Southeast Asia.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The Malagasy peopling of Madagascar occurred sometime in the first millennium AD.
“the Malagasy peopling of Madagascar sometime in the first millennium AD”
The paper relies on this without support.
The banana phytoliths from Nkang in Cameroon provide evidence for Asian species introduction into the moist tropics of Africa.
“this claim still rests heavily on the banana phytoliths from Nkang in Cameroon”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“New data for long-distance exchange come from promising studies that trace botanical and faunal translocations via maritime activity, suggesting that movements across the Indian Ocean occurred as early as the second millennium bce (Fuller & Boivin 2009, Fuller et al. 2011).”
From Recent Developments in the Archaeology of Long-Distance Connections Across the Ancient Indian Ocean (2023) · cites this paper as Fuller et al. 2011
Citations
Cites
A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula
(1936) · Nature · doi:10.1038/137255c0 · Cited by 1,562
Africa-Its Peoples and Their Culture History
Robin, J. M., & Murdock, G. P. (1960) · Geographical Journal · doi:10.2307/1793652 · Cited by 773
Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago
Bellwood, P. S. (2007) · ANU Press eBooks · doi:10.22459/pima.03.2007 · Cited by 760
Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago
Bellwood, P. S. (1997) · University of Hawaii Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780824874681 · Cited by 709
Helms, M. W. (1988) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400859542 · Cited by 687
Documenting Domestication. New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms
Clement, C. R. (2006) · Economic Botany · doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[398a:ddngaa]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 633
African Pastoralism: Genetic Imprints of Origins and Migrations
Hanotte, O., Bradley, D. G., Ochieng, J. W., Verjee, Y., Hill, E. W., & Rege, J. E. O. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1069878 · Cited by 567
Boursot, P., Auffray, J., Britton‐Davidian, J., & Bonhomme, F. (1993) · Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev.es.24.110193.001003 · Cited by 501
Identification of the Yellow Skin Gene Reveals a Hybrid Origin of the Domestic Chicken
Eriksson, J., Larson, G., Gunnarsson, U., Bed'hom, B., Tixier-Boichard, M., Strömstedt, L., Wright, D., Jungerius, A., Vereijken, A., Randi, E., et al. (2008) · PLoS Genetics · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000010 · Cited by 426
The Origins and Development of African Livestock
Blench, R. M., & MacDonald, K. C. (2006) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203984239 · Cited by 420
Research works printed but not linked: 8
- Fischer, 1938, Where did the sandalwood tree (Santalum album Linn.) evolve?, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 40, 458
- Ratnagar, 1994, Harappan trade in its ‘world context’, Man and Environment, 19, 115
- Hutterer, 1990, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Vertebrate Biogeography and Systematics in the Tropics, 309
- Williamson, 2000, The origins and development of African livestock: archaeology, genetics, linguistics and ethnography, 368
- Fuller, 2008, Linguistics, archaeology and the human past, 1
- Fuller, 2003, Food, fuel and fields. Progress in African archaeobotany, 239
- Castillo, 2010, Studies in honour of Ian Glover, 91
- Plu, 1985, La momie de Ramse’s II. Contribution scientifique à l'égyptologie:, 166
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Stevens, C. J., Murphy, C., Roberts, R., Lucas, L., Silva, F., & Fuller, D. Q. (2016) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683616650268 · Cited by 303
Self-citationOld World globalization and the Columbian exchange: comparison and contrast
Boivin, N. L., Fuller, D. Q., & Crowther, A. (2012) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.2012.729404 · Cited by 265
Self-citationKaufman, D. A., & Himmelmann, N. P. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198807353.003.0042 · Cited by 264
Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide
Khoury, C. K., Achicanoy, H., Bjorkman, A. D., Racines, C. E. N., Guarino, L., Flores-Palacios, X., Engels, J. M. M., Wiersema, J. H., Dempewolf, H., Sotelo, S., et al. (2016) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.0792 · Cited by 245
From ecological opportunism to multi-cropping: Mapping food globalisation in prehistory
Liu, X., Jones, P., Matuzevičiūtė, G. M., Hunt, H. V., Lister, D. L., An, T., Przelomska, N. A. S., Kneale, C. J., Zhao, Z., & Jones, M. K. (2019) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.12.017 · Cited by 237
Metadata
- Authors
- Fuller, D. Q., Boivin, N., Hoogervorst, T., & Allaby, R.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Warwick (GB)
- Venue
- Antiquity
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-05
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 328
- Pages
- 544-558
- ISSN
- 0003-598X (ISSN-L)
- 1745-1744
- OpenAlex
- W2097660788
- Cited by
- 328
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 72 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
- Type
- book review
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Antiquity (publishedVersion)
- Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- University of Warwick (cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Warwick
- University College London
- University of Oxford
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
- Keywords
- prehistoric seafaring, maritime exchange, Indian Ocean, animal husbandry, small entrepreneurs, prehistoric trade, prehistoric migration
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-11-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-11-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
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