This paper situates Eastern Africa in the early maritime trade of the Indian Ocean, reviewing evidence for connections from Egypt and Red Sea, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia from prehistory to the Islamic Period. The region played a pivotal role in developing global networks, but we argue that it has become the “forgotten south” in an era of emerging empires. One reason for this is a lack of understanding of maritime mobility around the rim of the Indian Ocean, often undertaken by small scale or specialist groups, including sea nomads. These groups are characterised as marginalised and victimised during globalisation, yet dualising into categories—such as “exploiter” and “exploiting”—oversimplifies what was almost certainly in reality a complex array of roles and activities, both in the context of East Africa and elsewhere around the Indian Ocean. Through modern scientific-based excavation and analysis, we can now begin to more fully understand these interactions.

本文将东部非洲置于印度洋的早期海上贸易中，回顾了史前至伊斯兰时期与埃及和红海，海湾和东南亚之间的联系的证据。该地区在发展全球网络中起着举足轻重的作用，但我们认为，它已成为新兴帝国时代的“被遗忘的南方”。原因之一是缺乏对印度洋边缘海域机动性的了解，这通常是由小规模或专业团体（包括海上游牧民族）进行的。这些群体的特征是在全球化过程中被边缘化和受害，但又被分为两类，例如“剥削者”和“剥削者”，这实际上简化了在东非和其他地方所面临的一系列复杂的角色和活动。在印度洋周围。