Introduction V

•i) That similarly, on the East African coast, the transfer of nautical technology to coastal Iron Age cultivators stimulated the development of Swahili maritime culture •j) That the expansion of Arab shipping in the Indian Ocean from the 10th century onwards obscured the Austronesian origins of local seafaring through the replacement of boat types and maritime terminology •k) Finally, if the Indian Ocean was criss-crossed by experienced Austronesian navigators from an early period, then settlement would be expected on many Indian Ocean islands. Although most islands were apparently unoccupied at first European contact, they may still have been reached by Austronesians and that more extensive archaeology will reveal this