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Compare the Indian Ocean trade with the Mediterranean Sea trade. Were they different worlds?
 
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ANSWER:
Students should recognize that different environments, technologies, and goods shaped each of these worlds. In the Mediterranean, sailors used square sails and long banks of oars to sail to the many islands and into small harbors. Indian Ocean vessels used lateen sails and rode the winds rather than using oarsmen. Mediterranean sailors were rarely out of sight of land, whereas Indian Ocean sailors sailed long distances entirely at sea. Mediterranean traders also often established colonies to galvanize trade contacts, whereas Indian Ocean contacts were less frequent and therefore seldom resulted in political ties. The Mediterranean Basin was also smaller and more competitive because of a smaller number of goods&9135;copper, tin, wine, olive oil, and pottery. The competition sparked recurrent warfare and rivalry in the Mediterranean but did not plague the Indian Ocean world, which was primarily concerned with population movements and the exchange of goods and ideas. Although the volume of goods in the Indian Ocean was lower than in the Mediterranean Sea, the trade in the Indian Ocean included a large variety of highly valued goods.