Prehistoric East Africa in the Indian Ocean.

East Africa’s role in early Indian Ocean contacts and exchange is being recognized by archaeologists. Focusing on the period c. 500 BCE. to c. 1000 BCE, this paper explores existing and new evidence of communities occupying the southeastern coast of Kenya, during what is seen as a critical period of transformation between existing LSA and emerging EIA communities. New field survey and excavation seeks to identify evidence, particularly in the form of translocated plant and animal species and material objects, for the emergence of both local and wider Indian Ocean connections. In this regard, the paper contributes to broader efforts focusing less on the boundaries between societies, and more on the diverse links among them.