ABSTRACT
The date, 1000 CE, is simply a convenient marker – nothing really dramatic relevant to globalization occurred in that year, and few people at the time would have been aware of any particularly significant alteration or upsurge in global relations. But by 1000 CE, a number of key changes had been accumulating over the course of about 300 years; and after that date the changes would solidify and amplify, justifying the understanding, in retrospect, that a fundamental transition was underway. Dependence on long-distance trade also increased, another sign of change. Markets for Chinese silk continued to play an important role, which represented obvious continuity with the past. Shipping itself was the other main beneficiary of technological improvements, though they were less dramatic than in the navigational realm. A crucial development was the growing use of the lateen sail, both in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
