S4E2: Settlers from All Shores

 

An example of the type of outrigger canoe used by Austronesian sailors, later introduced to East Africa

This episode focuses on tracking the settlement of Madagascar by multiple groups of people, including a (possible) short-lived hunter gatherer population from East Africa before 500 BC, followed by the more concretely evidenced arrival of Austronesian and Bantu people in the 6th Century AD.

The status of human settlement on Madagascar prior to the later settlement of the island by Austronesian and Bantu colonization is not especially clear. In fact, it's unclear if there was even a sustainable population of people on the island.

Some examples of the purported tools found at Lakaton'i Anja

Some archeologists claim that evidence exists to establish the presence of some kind of hunter-gatherer population in pre-settlement Madagascar. While the evidence is fairly convincing, it's not clear as to whether these remains evidence a permanent population or a transient one. The lack of archaeological evidence for long-term shelter construction seemingly indicates that these people may have been transient nomads from the mainland who counted Madagascar among the territories they roamed. Regardless, if such a population did exist by the period of settlement, it was likely small enough that it had a marginal impact on Malagasy history. While some increasingly marginalized theorists believe that there is a link between these hunter gatherers and the semi-mythical Vazimba of early Madagascar, such a link is doubtful for reasons we'll get into in the next episode. 

An engraved image of a Javanese ship found at the temple of Borobodur

There is compelling genetic and linguistic evidence that the bulk of Austronesian settlers in Madagascar were from the Dayak peoples, particularly the Maanyan people of Western Borneo. Different narratives surrounding these Dayak arrivals argue that they were either enslaved workers for a larger Javanese state that sought to use them as labor on the burgeoning settlements in Madagascar, or that they were refugees fleeing the expansion of Indianized kingdoms on their home island.

Example of Tana Pottery

The arrival of Bantu people to Madagascar is similarly contentious, with scholars debating whether they were brought to Madagascar through slave raiding or migrated to the island of their own volition. While enslaved workers, some of whom were Bantu, were certainly traded by Austronesian merchants, there is good reason to be skeptical of the idea that the entirety of the Bantu arrival in Madagascar can be chocked up to enslavement. For example, the high prevalence of Bantu loanwords to describe domesticated animals implies that Bantu herdsmen were the dominant pastoralist culture on the island at some point, something you would certainly not expect from enslaved workers.

By the 13th century AD, the stage of Malagasy civilization was set, since much of the island was settled. Sadly, this had a devastating effect on island wildlife. Elephant birds were driven to extinction by diseases brought by domesticated poultry, while giant lemurs succumbed to a combination of habitat loss and overhunting.

 Next episode, we will see how the narrative based on archaeology and genetic data conflicts with and supports numerous ideas surrounding the islands mysterious first inhabitants according to Malagasy legendary histories: the Vazimba. 

S4E1: Madagascar - the Eighth Continent

 

A (simplified) map of Madagascar's climate zones

Due to its natural and climactic diversity, Madagascar is sometimes nicknamed the "eighth continent." Despite being a relatively small landmass, Madagascar hosts an unusually varied array of climate zones. 

Malagasy spiny forest

These climate zones consist of a tropical coastal rainforest, a largely treeless tropical highlands, a semi-arid savanna, dry broadleaf forests, and a unique type of semi-arid forest landscape dominated by succulents and other tall shrubs called the spiny forest. The landscape also features unique formations associated with the island, such as Lavakas: a unique form of erosion that forms a canyon-esque gorge in a hillside.

The unique broadleaf forests of northwest Madagascar. Notice the relative lack of undergrowth. Credit: Damon Ramsey

A Malagasy Lavaka.credit to Rhett Butler

While Madagascar is still known for its unique flora and fauna today, the island once hosted even more unusual animal life. These included enormous flightless birds: the aepyornids. They are better known by their common name of Elephant Birds, due to their enormous eggs likely serving as the inspiration to Marco Polo's claim of enormous elephant consuming eagles residing on the island. Madagascar also once hosted species of giant lemurs, the largest of which could grow to the size of a silverback gorilla.

Size comparison between a human, elephant bird, and ostrich.

In our next episode, we will examine the many contradictory theories and narratives surrounding the arrival of Madagascar's first permanent human inhabitants.