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Modern men have settled on the African island of Madagascar, in the southwestern Indian Ocean, thousands of years later than expected, according to a study published in the newspaper PLOS ONE.
Understanding the history of colonization of the island is essential to trace the prehistoric human dispersion in the Indian Ocean, due to its location 310 km east of Africa and about 3,700 km from the island. South East Asia.
"Madagascar is the largest of the isolated islands of the Indian and Malagasy Oceans [people] Atholl Anderson, lead author of the Australian National University study, explained Newsweek. "When it was colonized, it therefore constitutes an index of the maritime capabilities of man, long-distance migrations and transoceanic trade."
Despite the importance of its colonization, researchers have long been unable to agree on the beginning of the human settlement of the island. Some evidence, such as the discovery of stone and charcoal tools, indicate a human occupation dating back to about 1,500 years ago. On the other hand, research based on animal bone markings suggested that the first settlers would have arrived 5,000 or even 10,000 years ago.
"Almost all recent discoveries in archeology, historical linguistics, palaeoecological changes and human genetics indicate late colonization of Madagascar after about 600 AD," Anderson said. "The main obstacle to accepting this age is the repeated claims that some megafauna bones less than 10,000 years old have butchery marks."
To highlight the discrepancies between the available evidence, Anderson and his colleagues examined bones dating from 1,900 to 1,100 years ago belonging to extinct megafauna on the island, such as hippopotamuses, crocodiles, giant tortoises, giant lemurs and elephants.
"We undertook the largest ever study of bone damage on Malagasy material, including nearly 3,000 specimens – about 2,000 of which were from extinct megafauuna – which we excavated from three sites under controlled conditions," he said. said Anderson.
The examination of the remains showed that potential cutting marks in bones dating from 1,200 years ago were actually bite marks or animal gnawing, or cutting marks from the excavation, indicating that human activity only appeared after this date.
"The analysis of damage to these specimens, including scanning electron microscopy, showed almost no marks attributable to butchery, and the few that were convincingly anthropogenic came exclusively from materials dating over 600 years old, "said Anderson.
The researchers also came to the same conclusions when they re-examined bone lesions, considered as synthetic cutting marks, in samples from old collections. The results confirmed earlier evidence of the extinction of megafauna on the island about 1,200 years ago.
"We concluded that the arguments for early human colonization in Madagascar, based on megafauna bone lesions, are poorly supported by the evidence," he said.
The study suggests that prehistoric colonization of Madagascar began about 1,350 to 1,100 years ago and that hunting eventually resulted in the disappearance of the largest animals on the island.
The results have important implications for understanding the history of human migration in the region, according to Anderson, raising questions about why transoceanic shipping started so late in the Indian Ocean, given that organized coastal navigation had begun earlier than in the Atlantic or the Pacific.
"We think this might reflect early adaptation in the Indian Ocean to the monsoon rather than the use of the trade winds," he said.
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