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Abstract

Madagascar's culture is a unique fusion of elements drawn from the western, northern, and eastern shores of the Indian Ocean, and its past has fascinated many scholars, yet systematic archaeological research is relatively recent on the island. The oldest traces of visitors are from the first century AD. Coastal settlements, with clear evidence of ties to the western Indian Ocean trading network, were established in several places over the next millennium. Important environmental changes of both plant and animal communities are documented over this period, including the extinctions of almost all large animal species. Urban life in Madagascar began with the establishment of the entrepôt of Mahilaka on the northwest coast of the island in the twelfth century. At about the same time, communities with ties to the trade network were established around the island's coasts. From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, social hierarchies developed in several regions of the island. During the succeeding two centuries, Madagascar saw the development of state polities. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45256/1/10963_2004_Article_BF00997802.pdf
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... Archaeology has so far only documented a relatively late settlement of Madagascar during the mid-to late first millennium AD, with possible exceptions provided by excavations at a rock shelter in the Velondriake area along the coast of southwestern Madagascar, where dated avian eggshell suggests a periodic campsite for mobile foragers at least 2000 cal. BP (Douglass et al. 2019), and others at two rock shelters in northern Madagascar, where Dewar et al. (2013) infer the presence of stone tool-using foragers at least as early as 2000 BC. Figure 1 shows the location of archaeological sites dating to the period AD 700-1100 Vérin 1966, 1971;Wright and Fanony 1992;Dewar and Wright 1993;Radimilahy 1998Radimilahy , 2016Rakotoarisoa 1998;Parker Pearson et al. 2010;Serneels et al. , 2019Serneels et al. , 2020Serneels et al. , 2021Anderson 2021). ...
... No archaeological objects were recovered from the trench. However, they did find a few pottery sherds on the slopes of the cirque and Vérin (1986) mentions that one of these Vérin (1966, 1971), Wright and Fanony (1992), Dewar and Wright (1993), Radimilahy (1998Radimilahy ( , 2016, Rakotoarisoa (1998), Parker Pearson et al. (2010, Serneels et al. ( , 2019Serneels et al. ( , 2020Serneels et al. ( , 2021, Douglass et al. (2019), Anderson (2021) and Wright et al. (2022). The black solid square indicates the location of Teniky in southern Madagascar, whereas black open squares indicate other sites mentioned in the text. ...
... Vérin (1971) proposed that they were occupied between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, Dewar and Wright (1993) proposed a revision of the dates for these sites, suggesting that they were at least as old as the thirteenth century. Regional surveys and absolute age dating of Asambalahy and Rezoky are needed to determine whether any links might have existed in the past between them and nearby Teniky. ...
... Stratigraphic sediment records from Central Madagascar indicate an increased relative abundance of grasses and fire through the Holocene (Burney, 1987;Gasse & Van Campo, 1998;Virah-Sawmy et al., 2010), especially near the expected age of human colonization (c. 2000 years ago [ka]; Dewar & Wright, 1993;Dewar et al., 2013;Pierron et al., 2017). Megafaunal isotope records also support Holocene expansions of C 4 grasslands but show a vegetative mosaic of C 4 grasses, and C 3 vegetation was at least present (Crowley et al., 2021) near the last glacial maximum (LGM; c. 26.5-19 ka). ...
... Our models of N e change through time suggest that L. simplex grasslands were already extensive (Figures 5 and S7) Wright, 1993;Dewar et al., 2013;Pierron et al., 2017). We found an approximate 10-fold increase between one MA and the LIG, which is beyond the limitations of available paleoecological records (Burney, 1987;Crowley et al., 2021;Gasse & Van Campo, 1998;Railsback et al., 2020;Virah-Sawmy et al., 2010). ...
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Societal Impact Statement Recognizing Loudetia ‐dominated grasslands were widespread prior to human colonization highlights that open ecosystems were and continue to be an important component of Madagascar's biodiversity. A better understanding of the plant species that form grassland ecosystems is necessary for effective land management strategies that support livelihoods, but substantial financial and logistical barriers exist to implementing conservation genetic studies using contemporary genomic tools. Some challenges for population genetic analyses of non‐model polyploids lacking reference genomes can be ameliorated by developing computational resources that leverage a cost‐effective data generation strategy that requires no prior genetic knowledge of the target species. This may benefit conservation programs with small operating budgets while reducing uncertainty compared to status quo microsatellite assays. Summary The extent of Madagascar's grasslands prior to human colonization is unresolved. We used population genetic analyses of a broadly dominant C 4 fire‐adapted grass, Loudetia simplex , as a proxy for estimating grassland change through time. We carefully examined the utility of target‐enrichment data for population genetics to make recommendations for conservation genetics. We explored the potential of estimating individual ploidy levels from target‐enrichment data and how assumptions about ploidy could affect analyses. We developed a novel bioinformatic pipeline to estimate ploidy and genotypes from target‐enrichment data. We estimated standard population genetic summary statistics in addition to species trees and population structure. Extended Bayesian skyline plots provided estimates of population size through time for empirical and simulated data. All Malagasy L. simplex individuals sampled in this study formed a clade and possibly indicated an ancestral Central Highland distribution of 800 m in altitude and above. Demographic models suggested grassland expansions occurred prior to the Last Interglacial Period and supported extensive grasslands prior to human colonization. Though there are limitations to target‐enrichment data for population genetic studies, we find that analyses of population structure are reliable. Genetic variation in L. simplex supports widespread grasslands in Madagascar prior to the more recent periods of notable paleoclimatic change. However, the methods explored here could not differentiate between paleoclimatic change near the Last Glacial Maximum and anthropogenic effects. Target‐enrichment data can be a valuable tool for analyses of population structure in the absence a reference genome.
... The island owes this status in part to its extended period of geographic isolation (Yoder & Nowak, 2006). It is also one of the last landmasses to be inhabited by humans (Dewar & Wright, 1993). Home to a mammalian fauna that is highly diverse and threatened, Madagascar is considered to be one of the world's top conservation priorities (Evans et al., 2013). ...
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Animals and humans have lived alongside and interacted with one another for millennia and yet little is understood of such interactions. Although the majority of such interactions have a positive impact on humans, not all are positive or beneficial to humans with some of them leading to disease transmission to humans. The objectives of this research were to 1) identify how dogs interact with humans across and their implications for conservation in developing landscapes such as rural Madagascar, 2) investigate the geographic count variation in leptospiral occurrence using a set of animal-host, environmental and socioeconomic regressors across Florida, and 3) Further, consider the risk factors responsible for the transmission of possible zoonotic diseases and describe their direct and indirect costs to individuals in a village in Madagascar. Results support the hypothesis that some interactions between humans and animals can have adverse effects on humans by causing the transmission of several zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) such as leptospirosis, plague, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Zika, etc. Such interactions between humans and animals might increase due to expanding human and animal populations and their increased contact.
... Humans have inhabited Madagascar for at least 2,000 years. [1][2][3] Malagasy communities can primarily trace their genetic ancestry to eastern African Bantu-speaking groups most likely from southeastern Africa and Austronesianspeaking groups most likely from modern-day Borneo, Indonesia. 4,5 For simplicity, we refer to these ancestral sources as ''African'' and ''Austronesian,'' respectively, throughout this study. ...
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The majority of human genomic research studies have been conducted in European-ancestry cohorts, reducing the likelihood of detecting potentially novel and globally impactful findings. Here, we present mid-pass whole-genome sequencing data and a genome-wide association study in a cohort of 264 self-reported Malagasy individuals from three locations on the island of Madagascar. We describe genetic variation in this Malagasy cohort, providing insight into the shared and unique patterns of genetic variation across the island. We observe phenotypic variation by location and find high rates of hypertension, particularly in the Southern Highlands sampling site, as well as elevated self-reported malaria prevalence in the West Coast site relative to other sites. After filtering to a subset of 214 minimally related individuals, we find a number of genetic associations with body composition traits, including many variants that are only observed in African populations or populations with admixed African ancestry from the 1000 Genomes Project. This study highlights the importance of including diverse populations in genomic research for the potential to gain novel insights, even with small cohort sizes. This project was conducted in partnership and consultation with local stakeholders in Madagascar and serves as an example of genomic research that prioritizes community engagement and potentially impacts our understanding of human health and disease.
... In contrast, from 550 years BP onwards at Lake Mahasarika and, starting from approximately 200 years earlier at Nosy Be, the proportion of grasses decreased in congruence with a decrease in fires. This pattern, particularly the decrease in fires, might be explained in several ways: first, starting approximately 600 years BP, archaeological data suggested a human population decline in the northwest at Mahilaka and the surrounding villages of Ampasindava Bay [48,65]. Although this remains to be confirmed at the local and regional scale around Montagne d'Ambre with archaeological data, a decline in human occupation in northern Madagascar could have resulted in a reduction of anthropogenic burning. ...
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Although it is well known that humans substantially altered the Malagasy ecosystems, the timing of the human arrival as well as the extension of their environmental impact is yet not well understood. This research aims to study the influence of early human impact and climate change on rainforests and wildlife in northern Madagascar during the past millennia. Results obtained from the lake sediment in a montane environment showed significant changes in vegetation within the lake catchment associated with a major drought that started approximately 1100 years ago. Human impact, revealed by fires, began at roughly the same time and occurred outside the lake catchment. Although this does not dismiss the impacts that humans had at a regional scale, this result demonstrates that the late Holocene natural drought also significantly impacted the ecosystems independently of anthropogenic activities. At a regional scale, a review of species demographic history revealed a substantial number of population bottlenecks during the last millennia, probably resulting from this combination of human-related impact and natural climate changes. This research highlights the importance of a multi-site and multi-proxy comparison for deciphering the nature and succession of environmental changes.
... On Madagascar, a great deal of scholarly attention has focused on state formation and the development of settlements in the central highlands (e.g., Dewar & Wright, 1993;Mille, 1970;Parker Pearson, 1992, 1997Vérin, 1986;Wright, 2007). However, the earliest inhabitants of the island were likely fishers, hunters, and foragers, and limited survey coverage across the island's landmass has resulted in a patchy understanding of the impacts of small-scale communities on ecosystems during the earliest periods of human occupation Douglass et al., 2019;Parker Pearson et al., 2010). ...
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The environmental impacts of human societies are generally assumed to correlate with factors such as population size, whether they are industrialized, and the intensity of their landscape modifications (e.g., agriculture, urban development). As a result, small-scale communities with subsistence economies are often not the focus of long-term studies of environmental impact. However, comparing human-environment dynamics and their lasting ecological legacies across societies of different scales and forms of organization and production is important for understanding landscape change at regional to global scales. On Madagascar, ecological and cultural diversity, coupled with climatic variability, provide an important case study to examine the role of smaller-scale socioeconomic practices (e.g., fishing, foraging, and herding) on long-term ecological stability. Here, we use multi-spectral satellite imagery to compare long-term ecological impacts of different human livelihood strategies in SW Madagascar. Our results indicate that the nature of human-environmental dynamics between different socioeconomic communities are similar. Although some activities leave more subtle traces than others, geophysics highlight similar signatures across a landscape inhabited by communities practicing a range of subsistence strategies. Our results further demonstrate how Indigenous land stewardship is integrated into the very fabric of ecological systems in SW Madagascar with implications for conservation and sustainability.
... Madagascar represents a unique case study of how multitemporal remote sensing can illuminate important insights into mobile foraging communities and their impact on landscapes. The island is the fourth largest in the world, by area, and contains an extensive archaeological record spanning at least the past two millennia (Dewar & Wright, 1993;Douglass et al., 2019). In the southwest of the island, the preservation (Fig. 2). ...
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For the last seven years, PlanetScope satellites have started near-daily imaging of parts of the Earth’s surface, making high-density multitemporal, multispectral, 3-m pixel imagery accessible to researchers. Multitemporal satellite data enables landscape archaeologists to examine changes in environmental conditions at time scales ranging from daily to decadal. This kind of temporal resolution can accentuate landscape features on the ground by de-emphasizing non-permanent signatures caused by seasonal or even daily changes in vegetation. We argue that the availability of high spatial and temporal resolution multispectral imagery from Planet Inc. will enable new approaches to studying archaeological visibility in landscapes. While palimpsests are discrete overlapping layers of material accumulation, multitemporal composites capture cyclical and seasonal time and can be used to interpret past landscape histories at multiple scales. To illustrate this perspective, we present three case studies using PlanetScope imagery in tropical environments on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Zanzibar.
... Wright, 1993;Dewar, 1994Dewar, , 1995 Wright et al., 1996; Radimilav, 1998;Verin, 1999;Rakotoarisoa, 2003;Radimilahy, 2005;Allibert, 2007;Richard, 2012. ...
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Estamos acostumados a interpretar muitos aspectos da cultura em termos essencialistas, ou tacitamente evolucionistas, que podem ser melhor observados como atos de uma rejeição autoconsciente, ou formados através de um processo esquizogenético de definição mútua contra valores das sociedades vizinhas. As chamadas “sociedades heroicas”, por exemplo, parecem ter se formado pela rejeição consciente dos valores das civilizações urbanas da Idade do Bronze. Considerar as origens e a história inicial dos Malgaxe sugere uma rejeição consciente do mundo ecumênico islâmico do Oceano Índico, afetando uma ordem social que poderia ser justificadamente descrita como auto conscientemente anti-heroica
... Subsequently, political alliances and trade relations between these groups and Comorian chiefs caused a change in the political organization and the creation of sultanates (cf. Chittick 1977, 220-225;Esoavelomandroso 1984, 604-608;Dewar/Wright 1993;Radimilahy 1998, 26;Adelaar 2006, 83-88;Randrianja/Ellis 2009, 20, 28, 53-62;Hooper 2011, 220;Allibert 2015, 5s., 24, 30;Rombi 2022). ...
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French is only spoken by a quarter of the population in Madagascar and Comoros, primarily in urban and educated circles, while almost everyone uses Malagasy and Comorian. Both countries were once French colonies and experienced a troubled history after independence, which Madagascar gained in 1960 and Comoros in 1975. French servesas a co-official language besides Malagasy in mainly Christian Madagascar and besides Comorian and Arabic in mainly Muslim Comoros. It enjoys a privileged status in administration, education, written media, and literature. Malagasy and Comorian are used in parliament debates and audiovisual media, too, and Malagasy also appears in official texts,newspapers, literature, and as a taught subject. Malagasy and Comorian French show phonetic, morphosyntactic, and lexical particularities, which are better described for the former than for the latter, especially on the lexical level. Deviations from standard French are generally evaluated negatively but sometimes also seen positively. They do not only occur in oral communication but also in media and literature.
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