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Early Holocene human presence in Madagascar evidenced by exploitation of avian megafauna
James Hansford1,2,*, Patricia C. Wright3,4, Armand Rasoamiaramanana5, Ventura R. Pérez6, Laurie R. Godfrey6, David Errickso
quote:Previous research suggests that people first arrived on Madagascar by ~2500 years before present (years B.P.). This hypothesis is consistent with butchery marks on extinct lemur bones from ~2400 years B.P. and perhaps with archaeological evidence of human presence from ~4000 years B.P. We report >10,500-year-old human-modified bones for the extinct elephant birds Aepyornis and Mullerornis, which show perimortem chop marks, cut marks, and depression fractures consistent with immobilization and dismemberment. Our evidence for anthropogenic perimortem modification of directly dated bones represents the earliest indication of humans in Madagascar, predating all other archaeological and genetic evidence by >6000 years and changing our understanding of the history of human colonization of Madagascar. This revision of Madagascar’s prehistory suggests prolonged human-faunal coexistence with limited biodiversity loss.
Can we get a moment of silence for Xyyman ...he might've called this.
More evidence for long term settlement by Africans prior to the arrival of Austronesians.
Posts: 1782 | From: New York | Registered: Jul 2016
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