Humans have lived in Madagascar 6,000 years earlier than expected

An analysis of slaughtered animal bones suggests that humans ventured somehow into Madagascar at least 10,000 years ago, 6,000 years earlier than the previous evidence suggested. This means that humans have probably played a key role in the extinction of the large animals on the island.

Humans lived in early Holocene Madagascar, according to a new study published today in Science Advances. The proof of this allegation is in the form of butchery and cut marks found on the bones of a single elephant (Aepyornis maximus) specimen. The remains of this now flightless bird, resembling an ostrich, were found on the site of the Christmas River in southern Madagascar. During the Holocene, this area was an ecosystem of wetlands, with animals such as giant lemurs, hippos, giant turtles, crocodiles and, as the new study suggests, humans.

Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, is located 1,770 kilometers east of Mozambique, in Africa. Today, the island is home to a diverse but relatively small range of animals, as evidenced by any fan of the movie DreamWorks 2005. During the Holocene, however, Madagascar was home to a band Oversized animals, including giant lemurs and elephant birds. These creatures are now extinct and scientists have suspected that climate change has something to do with their disappearance.

Humans were considered an unlikely cause of these extinctions. Before this new work, the oldest evidence of human activity in Madagascar was in the form of 2,500-year-old cut marks on giant lemur bones and a 4,000-year-old set of tools found in the northern part of Madagascar. from the island. The discovery of 10 000-year-old dead elephant bird bones places humans in Madagascar 6,000 years earlier than previously thought, suggesting that humans may have played an active role in the extinction of the megafauna in Madagascar.

James Hansford, Ph.D. student at the Zoological Society of London and lead author of the new study, has documented several anthropogenic "modifications" on elephant bones, including five grooves on the lower leg bone that appear to have been made by a single blade stone tool.

"The use of tool on fresh bones leaves unmistakable traces because knives cut the surface of bones when they cut flesh or when large tools cut ligaments and tendons to break down members, "said Hansford Gizmodo. "The tool marks presented in this article are consistent with experimental work using stone tools on large bones leaving jagged V-shaped grooves, and their position and orientation relative to butchering practices. As there are no cracks extending further from the tool marks and the coloring inside the grooves matches the outer surface, we know that they were made at the time of death. No natural erosion process could have made these marks.

To date the bones, Hansford and his colleagues extracted bone collagen, which was then analyzed in two accelerated mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating facilities, producing a period of between 10,721 and 10,511 years.

"The ages in both schools were similar, which is self-evident, but to further improve their accuracy, they were then calibrated and combined to give the age we report," added Hansford.

Scientists commonly study animal tool marks to understand when humans have arrived at certain geographical locations, which then allows scientists to study the overall impact of humans on animals and animals. ecosystems over time.

"Before this study, humans were thought to have arrived in Madagascar just 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, although this has been a source of debate within the scientific community for some time," said Hansford. . "The extension of the history of humanity in Madagascar until at least the end of the ice age brings about a radical paradigm shift in the understanding of human migration and its global impact. I hope this will open the field of archeology of the lower Holocene in Madagascar and that the scientific community will be able to learn more about the identity of these people.

Regarding how these humans managed to reach Madagascar, the researchers have no idea. It is possible that they built boats, but archaeological evidence does not support this claim. Another possibility is that a group of human beings was swept away by a tsunami that hit the east coast of Africa, sending them to Madagascar. But this is only speculation; "We know almost nothing about who hunts and kills these giant birds," Hansford said.

That said, Hansford's analysis offers new insights into how these elephant birds were hunted. Depression fractures on the legs of the bird look like "cloning" marks, which means that the hunters have knocked the bird down by hitting it hard in the legs before inflicting the fatal blow.

Thomas Ingicco, an assistant professor in the archaeological studies program at the University of the Philippines, said he appreciated the new study, but would have preferred to see more photographs of butcher's brands, including close-up images. performed under the microscope.

"Some brands seem convincing while others are worse," Ingicco told Gizmodo. "The percussion marks – described in the text as" Depression Fractures "- may very well be of human origin, but a detail on the cancellous bone [the spongy part of the bone]whether crushed or not, would have been helpful. "

Ingicco says this discovery makes sense from a genetic point of view. The presence of Bantu peoples (that is, Sub-Saharan Africans) in Madagascar before the Austronesian-speaking inhabitants arrived on the island about 2,000 years ago (they sailed on boats from Southeast Asia) is consistent with the genetic data. "This study is the archaeological evidence that we expected," Ingicco said.

"There is an ongoing debate about the reasons for the extinction of Madagascar's megafauna," Ingicco added. "This study shows that humans were present many centuries before the extinction of this megafauna."

Hansford said his new article is "an extremely important archeological document," but it presents more questions than it has about post-glacial Madagascar. The problem is that the island has been poorly studied by archaeologists.

"I hope this will spark new and exciting investigations into Madagascar's past," he said.