Editing History of Madagascar (section)

== First inhabitants and settlements (500 BCE–700 CE) ==
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=== Archaeological evidence for date of first settlement ===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Dajak mannen hakken een boom om Borneo. TMnr 60045266.jpg|thumb|''Vaγimba''- "Those of the forest" in Proto–Southeast Barito, the reconstructed ancestor of the Southeast [[Barito languages]], which includes the languages spoken by the [[Dayak people|Dayak]] peoples of the [[Barito River]] in [[Borneo]] (''pictured'') ]]

The earliest unambiguous evidence of continuous human presence in Madagascar was found at Andavakoera and dates to 490 CE,<ref>'The archaeological evidence for the earliest human presence in Madagascar comes from Andavakoera near Diego Suarez and is dated to AD420 (AD250-590, 2SDs) (Dewar & Wright 1996).</ref> and there is no archaeological evidence for human occupation in the highlands until around 1200. However, there is scattered evidence for much earlier human visits.

In 2009, archaeological excavations at Christmas River (south-central Madagascar) by Pat Wright and James Hansford located a purported elephant bird [[kill site]], with bones showing human cut marks. These were dated to 8,500 BCE, but as yet there is no indication as to the identity of the hunters.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 10, 2018|title=Ancient bird bones redate human activity in Madagascar by 6,000 years|url=https://www.zsl.org/science/news/ancient-bird-bones-redate-human-activity-in-madagascar-by-6000-years|newspaper=Zoological Society of London (ZSL)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=September 12, 2018|title=Ancient bird bones redate human activity in Madagascar by 6,000 years|url=https://phys.org/news/2018-09-ancient-bird-bones-redate-human.html|website=Phys.org}}</ref> [[Archaeology|Archaeological]] finds such as cut marks on bones found in the northwest and stone tools in the northeast indicate that Madagascar was visited by foragers around 2000 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gommery | first1 = D. | last2 = Ramanivosoa | first2 = B. | last3 = Faure | first3 = M. | last4 = Guérin | first4 = C. | last5 = Kerloc'h | first5 = P. | last6 = Sénégas | first6 = F. | last7 = Randrianantenaina | first7 = H. | title = Oldest evidence of human activities in Madagascar on subfossil hippopotamus bones from Anjohibe (Mahajanga Province) | journal = Comptes Rendus Palevol | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | year = 2011 | pages = 271–278 | doi = 10.1016/j.crpv.2011.01.006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dewar | first1 = R. E. | last2 = Radimilahy | first2 = C. | last3 = Wright | first3 = H. T. | last4 = Jacobs | first4 = Z. | last5 = Kelly | first5 = G. O. | last6 = Berna | first6 = F. | title = Stone tools and foraging in northern Madagascar challenge Holocene extinction models | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 110 | issue = 31 | year = 2013 | pages = 12583–12588 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1306100110 | pmid=23858456 | pmc=3732966| bibcode = 2013PNAS..11012583D | doi-access = free }}</ref>

There is potential evidence in the form of a cutmarked [[subfossil lemur]] bone from a palaeontological site, Taolambiby, in the southwest. One date was obtained, calibrated 530 to 300 BC (Godfrey & Jungers 2003). The cutmarking looks plausible, but there is a potential problem of old carbon from the limestone landscape compromising the date, and there are no associated artifacts or archaeological sites in the vicinity. Nearly contemporaneous potential evidence comes from [[cannabis]] or [[humulus]] pollen which occurs in a pollen column from the central highlands at an interpolated date of c. 2200 [[Before Present]] (BP).<ref>Burney 1987</ref> There is a hypothesis that cannabis may have reached Africa 3000 years ago.

[[Necho II]]'s Phoenician expedition c. 595 BCE circumnavigated Africa but did not see Madagascar when passing through the [[Mozambique Channel]], as it stayed within sight of the African mainland. The island was likely uninhabited.<ref name="ley196608">{{Cite magazine|last=Ley|first=Willy|date=August 1966|title=Scherazade's Island|url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v24n06_1966-08#page/n45/mode/2up|department=For Your Information|magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction|pages=45–55}}</ref>

Finally, a cutmarked pygmy hippo bone from Ambolisatra has been dated and calibrated to between 60 BC and 130 AD (2 SDs), but it is from a coastal swamp without indications of settlement in a heavily karstic region. Moreover, a similar bone from the same collection from a nearby site gave two widely divergent dates of 2020 and 3495 BC (MacPhee & Burney 1991). Transient visits to Madagascar that did not result in enduring settlement cannot be ruled out, and may have left some traces.<ref>Peter Forster, Shuichi Matsumutra, Matthieu Vizuete-Forster, Petya Belinda Blumbach & Robert Dewar (2008) "The Genetic Prehistory of Madagascar's Female Asian Lineages", In: {{cite book|last1=Matsumura|first1=Shūichi|last2=Forster|first2=Peter|last3=Renfrew|first3=Colin|author-link3=Colin Renfrew|title=Simulations, Genetics and Human Prehistory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IR3bAAAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research|isbn=978-1-902937-45-8}}, pp71-72</ref>

=== A common Austronesian origin: The ''Vahoaka Ntaolo'' ===
Factual information about the peopling of Madagascar remains incomplete, but much recent multidisciplinary research and work in [[archaeology]],<ref>Burney ''et alii'' (2004)</ref> [[genetics]],<ref>Hurles ''et alii'' (2005)</ref> [[linguistics]],<ref name="Dahl">Dahl O. (1991)</ref><ref name="Adelaar">Adelaar, K.A. (2006)</ref><ref name="Simon">{{cite book|last=Simon|first=Pierre R.|title=Fitenin-drazana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFsBYffWD48C|year=2006|publisher=L'Harmattan|isbn=978-2-296-01108-3}}</ref> and history<ref>Staff (May 4, 2005) [http://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/press/2005/050504.html "The cryptic past of Madagascar"] Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, citing {{cite journal|last1=Hurles|first1=Matthew E.|last2=Sykes|first2=Bryan C.|last3=Jobling|first3=Mark A.|last4=Forster|first4=Peter|title=The Dual Origin of the Malagasy in Island Southeast Asia and East Africa: Evidence from Maternal and Paternal Lineages|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|date=May 2005|volume=76|issue=5|pages=894–901|doi=10.1086/430051|pmid=15793703|pmc=1199379}}</ref><ref name="Verin">Verin (2000), p.20</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Diamond | first = Jared M. | title = Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | location = New York | year = 1999 | page = [https://archive.org/details/gunsgermssteel00diam/page/50 50] | isbn = 978-0-393-31755-8 |url = https://archive.org/details/gunsgermssteel00diam | url-access = registration |access-date = March 21, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dahl |first=Otto Chr |year=1991 |title=Migration from Kalimantan to Madagascar |publisher=Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, Norwegian University Press |location= Oslo, Norway |isbn=82-00-21140-1}}</ref> confirms that the Malagasy people were originally and overwhelmingly [[Austronesian peoples]] native to the [[Sunda Islands]]. They probably arrived on the west coast of Madagascar with [[outrigger canoe]]s ([[Waka (canoe)|''waka'']]) at the beginning of our era or as much as 300 years sooner according to archaeologists,<ref>Burney et al, op. cit.</ref> and perhaps even earlier under certain geneticists' assumptions.<ref>Ricaut ''et al'', op. cit.</ref> On the basis of plant cultigens, Blench proposed the migrations occurred "at the earliest century BCE".<ref>Blench, Roger. “The Ethnographic Evidence for Long-distance Contacts Between Oceania and East Africa” In ''The Indian Ocean in Antiquity'', edited by Julian Reade, pp. 417–38. London: Kegan Paul/British Museum 1996 pp. 417–38.</ref>{{Rp|432}} Archaeological work of Ardika and Bellwood suggests migration between 500 and 200 BCE.<ref>I. W. Ardika & P. Bellwood, “Sembiran: The Beginnings of Indian Contact with Bali”, Antiquity 65 (1991): 221–32.</ref><ref>I. W. Ardika, P. Bellwood, I. M. Sutaba & K. C. Yuliati, “Sembiran and the First Indian Contacts with Bali: An Update”, Antiquity 71(1997): 193–95.</ref>

The Borobudur Ship Expedition in 2003–2004 affirmed scholars' ideas that ships from ancient Indonesia could have reached Madagascar and the west African coast for trade from the 8th century and after. [[Samudra Raksa|A traditional Borobudur ship]] with outriggers was reconstructed and sailed in this expedition from [[Jakarta]] to Madagascar and [[Ghana]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Pareanom|first=Yusi Avianto|title=Cinnamon Route: The Samudraraksa Borobudur Expedition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=queuAAAACAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan & Ratu Boko|isbn=978-979-8083-58-7}}</ref> As for the ancient route, one possibility is that Indonesian Austronesians came directly across the Indian Ocean from [[Java]] to Madagascar. It is likely that they went through the [[Maldives]] where evidence of old Indonesian boat design and fishing technology persists until the present.<ref>P. Y. Manguin. ''Pre-modern Southeast Asian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: The Maldive Connection''. ‘New Directions in Maritime History Conference’ Fremantle. December 1993.</ref> The [[Malagasy language]] originated from the Southeast [[Barito languages|Barito language]], and [[Ma'anyan language]] is its closest relative, with numerous Malay and Javanese loanwords.<ref>Otto Chr. Dahl, ''Malgache et Maanjan: une comparaison linguistique'', Egede-Instituttet Avhandlinger, no. 3 (Oslo: Egede-Instituttet, 1951), p. 13.</ref><ref>There are also some Sulawesi loanwords, which Adelaar attributes to contact prior to the migration to Madagascar: See K. Alexander Adelaar, “The Indonesian Migrations to Madagascar: Making Sense of the Multidisciplinary Evidence”, in Truman Simanjuntak, Ingrid Harriet Eileen Pojoh and Muhammad Hisyam (eds.), ''Austronesian Diaspora and the Ethnogeneses of People in Indonesian Archipelago'', (Jakarta: Indonesian Institute of Sciences, 2006), pp. 8–9.</ref> It is known that [[Ma'anyan people]] were brought as laborers and slaves by [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]] and [[Javanese people]] in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD.<ref name="Dewar19932">{{cite journal|last1=Dewar|first1=Robert E.|last2=Wright|first2=Henry T.|date=1993|title=The culture history of Madagascar|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|volume=7|issue=4|pages=417–466|doi=10.1007/bf00997802|hdl-access=free|hdl=2027.42/45256|s2cid=21753825}}</ref><ref name="Burney20042">{{cite journal|vauthors=Burney DA, Burney LP, Godfrey LR, Jungers WL, Goodman SM, Wright HT, Jull AJ|date=August 2004|title=A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=47|issue=1–2|pages=25–63|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.05.005|pmid=15288523}}</ref> These pioneers are known in the Malagasy oral tradition as the ''Ntaolo'', from [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]] ''*tau-ulu'', literally 'first men', from ''*tau'', 'man', and ''*ulu'', 'head; first; origin, beginning.<ref>[http://folk.uio.no/janengh/gassisk/M-P_Origin.pdf Randriamasimanana, "The Malayo-Polynesian Origin of Malagasy"]</ref> It is likely that those ancient people called themselves *''va-waka'', "the canoe people" from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*va'', 'people', and ''*waka'' 'canoe'. Today the term {{lang|mg|vahoaka}} means 'people' in Malagasy.

[[File:Arman Manookian - 'Men in an Outrigger Canoe Headed for Shore', oil on canvas, c. 1929.jpg|thumb|''Men in an Outrigger Canoe Headed for Shore'', an oil painting by Arman Manookian depicting the [[Vezo people]], {{circa|1929}}]]

The Southeast Asian origin of the first Malagasy people explains certain features common among the Malagasy, for instance, the [[epicanthic fold]] common among all Malagasy whether coastal or highlands, whether pale, dark or copper skinned. This original population (''vahoaka ntaolo'') can be called the "Proto-Malagasy". They are the source of:
* the Malagasy language, common to the whole island, which shares many common [[root (linguistics)|roots]] with the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] languages of [[Barito languages|Barito]] subgroup, which originated in [[South Kalimantan]], such as [[Ma'anyan language|Ma'anyan]].<ref>O. Dahl, op. cit., Adelaar, op. cit., Simon, op. cit.</ref>
* Malagasy cultural traditions shared with Austronesians of [[Taiwanese aborigines|Taiwan]], the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Philippines including ancient customs, such as burying the dead within a canoe in the sea or in a lake, the cultivation of traditional Austronesian crops such as taro or {{lang|mg|saonjo}}, banana, coconut, and sugar cane, traditional architecture with a square house plan, music and musical instruments such as the {{lang|mg|antsiva}} conch, the {{lang|mg|hazolahy}} drum, the {{lang|mg|atranatrana}} xylophone, {{lang|mg|[[sodina]]}} flute, or the {{lang|mg|[[valiha]]}} [[tube zither]],<ref>schmidhoffer, A. (2005)</ref> and dance, including the "bird dance" found both in central and southern regions.<ref>This is according to historian Edward Ralaimihoatra, who calls these Austronesians globally the ''Vazimba'', without distinguishing between the coastal Vezo, and the Vazimba of the forest. "[T]he main basis of the Malagasy language and techniques of Austronesian origins such as outrigger canoes, flooded rice fields, squared timber boxes or branches built on stilts, villages in the hills surrounded by ditches, etc. This fund has received contributions resulting from human exchanges between Africa and Madagascar, with navigation between the Arab coast of [[Arabian Peninsula|Saudi]], East Africa, and the Big Island." Ralaimihoatra E., "The Primitives or Vazimba Malagasy", in ''History of Madagascar'')</ref>

As for the cause of the coming of these Austronesians, the history of the Indian Ocean from the early first millennium CE is still poorly understood. Madagascar may have played an important role in the trade of spices (especially [[cinnamon]]) and timber between Southeast Asia and the Middle East, directly or through the African coast and Madagascar.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Batang Rawas bij Bingin-Telok TMnr 3219-14.jpg|thumb|A Sumatran village showing several traditional houses (Malagasy ''levu''). The ''vahoaka ntaolo'' villages of Madagascar were probably similar in the first millennium AD. This model is still currently present on every coast and in the remote inland areas and forests.]]

===''Vazimba'' and ''Vezo''===
The first known concentrated population of human settlers emerged along the southeastern coast of the island, although the first landfall may have been made on the northern coast.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Gwyn |title=The Structure of Trade in Madagascar, 1750–1810 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=111–148 |year=1993 |doi=10.2307/219188|jstor=219188 }}</ref> Upon arrival, early settlers practiced ''tavy'' ([[slash-and-burn]] agriculture) to clear the virgin coastal [[rainforest]]s for the cultivation of their crops.<ref name = Kent>{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Raymond |title=Early Kingdoms in Madagascar: 1500–1700 |publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston |location = New York |year=1970 |isbn = 9780030841712}}</ref> The first settlers encountered Madagascar's wealth of megafauna, including [[Subfossil lemur|giant lemurs]], [[elephant bird]]s, [[Cryptoprocta spelea|giant fossa]] and the [[Malagasy hippopotamus]], which have since become extinct due to hunting and [[habitat destruction]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Virah-Sawmy | first = M. |author2=Willis, K.J. |author3=Gillson, L. | title = Evidence for drought and forest declines during the recent megafaunal extinctions in Madagascar | journal = Journal of Biogeography | volume = 37 | pages = 506–519 | year = 2010 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02203.x | issue = 3| bibcode = 2010JBiog..37..506V | s2cid = 84382916 }}</ref>

By 600, groups of these early settlers had moved inland and began clearing the forests of the central highlands (''Imerina''), where they particularly planted [[taro]] (''saonjo'') and probably rice (''vary''). These ''Vahoaka Ntaolo'', hunters-gatherers and farmers, who decided to settle "in the forest", especially in the forests of the central highlands are known by the tradition<ref name="Callet">{{cite book |last=Callet |first=François |year=1972 |orig-year=1908 |title=Tantara ny andriana eto Madagasikara (histoire des rois) |publisher=Imprimerie catholique |location=Antananarivo}}</ref> as the [[Vazimba]] (from ''*ba/va-yimba-'' 'those of the forest', from ''*yimba-'' 'forest' in Proto–Southeast Barito, today ''barimba'' or ''orang rimba'' in Malay<ref>Simon, Pierre (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=MFsBYffWD48C&q=vazimba ''La langue des ancêtres. Une périodisation du malgache de l’origine au XVIe siècle''], Paris, L’Harmattan., p. 245</ref>). Rafandrana, an ancestor of the [[Merina people|Merina]] royal dynasty, for example, is known to have been a Vazimba. [[Rafohy]] and [[Rangita]], the two founding queens of the Merina royalty, were also called Vazimbas.<ref name="Callet" />

[[File:TaroAKL.jpg|thumb|The [[taro]] (''saonjo'' in Malagasy) is, according to an old Malagasy proverb, "the elder of the rice" (''Ny saonjo no zokin'ny vary''), and was also a staple diet for the proto-Austronesians]]

On the other side, the fishermen who, from the beginning, remained on the southwestern coast (probably the coasts of the first landing) were, according to the linguists, probably originally called the ''[[Vezo]]'' (from ''*ba/va/be/ve-jau'' – "those of the coast", borrowed from Proto-Malayo-Javanese, today ''veju'' in Bugis, ''bejau'' in Malay, and ''bajo'' in Javanese<ref name="Simon" />), which today is still the name of a Southwestern tribe.

[[File:Suling.jpg|thumb|The [[suling]] is an Indonesian cousin of the [[sodina]]]]

After the arrival of the newcomers (see below), as growing population density necessitated higher crop yields, irrigated rice paddies emerged in [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] country by 1600 and were complemented with terraced paddies throughout the central highlands a century later.<ref>Campbell (1993), p.116</ref> [[Zebu]] were introduced around 1000 by [[Bantu languages|Bantu-speaking]] migrants from the [[African Great Lakes]] region (see below), who maintained large herds. The rising intensity of land cultivation and the ever-increasing demand for zebu pasturage in the central highlands had largely transformed the region from a forest ecosystem to barren grassland by the 17th century.<ref name="Gade 1996" />