Conference Paper

ROCK PAINTINGS AND POSSIBLE LIBYCO-BERBER INSCRIPTION FROM THE UPPER ONILAHY, SOUTHWESTERN MADAGASCAR

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Abstract

This paper presents the result of an archaeological study on the first prehistoric rock paintings site discovered in Madagascar and the wider Southwestern Indian Ocean basin. It provides archaeological evidence that contributes to the understanding of the prehistory of Madagascar as well as the distribution of African rock art. Until recently, Madagascar was not known to have prehistoric rock art. Through field survey conducted in 2010, rock paintings of red, claret, reddish orange, black, and white in monochrome, bichrome and polychrome styles were encountered in the Ampasimaiky rockshelter, in the Upper Onilahy, Southwestern Madagascar. Paintings were recorded, drawn, counted, and photographed for comparative analysis. Shape typology demonstrated naturalistic depictions of cattle, mainly of zebus, anthropomorphic stick figures, and Schematic-Geometric-Amorphous signs. The latter are dominated by quadrangular, circular and elliptical shapes, lines of dots/strokes, and alphabet-like signs. Through comparative study, a vertical set of geometric signs encountered at Ampasimaiky rockshelter has been suspected to be a Libyco-Berber inscription. This would be the first evidence for early contact between Madagascar and Northern Africa during prehistoric times. Scanty materials such as potsherds and animal bones have been uncovered from the excavation of the shelter’s shallow deposits, but as yet no direct link has been established between this assemblage and the paintings.

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... The cultural history of southwest Madagascar is still based on limited historical documents, oral traditions, and archaeology, and the upper Onilahy area including the MSV has been terra incognita for archaeological research. Recent research by the author (Rasolondrainy 2012;Fieldworks 2014Fieldworks -2016, however, suggests the archaeological potential of the region is great. ...
... The survey revealed that sherds had a variety of rim profiles, including thickened, beveled, thinned and flared. They also had various decorations, including triangular impressions and lines of incisions similar to sherds from Ampasimaiky rock shelter, located 1.7 km northwest of Keliangebo in the Isalo massif (Rasolondrainy 2012 The distribution of archaeological remains at the site was uneven, with most materials concentrated in the south (Figure 6.4). This might be because the terrain slopes from the northwest towards the south, with a 24 m difference in elevation. ...
... To the west, the closest sites are some 140 km away around the mouth of Onilahy (Vérin 1971b) and some 170 km away around the mouth of Manombo (Radimilahy 2011). The first archaeological work done in the area was my 2010 MA field project on rock paintings atAmpasimaiky rockshelter(Rasolondrainy 2012). This thesis is the sequel of that endeavor. ...
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