Ancient crops provide clue to Madagascar’s past

Remnants of ancient crops have provided researchers with clues that could help map the movement of humans across the globe more than 1300 years ago. The University of Queensland-led international study has uncovered the first direct archaeological evidence that Madagascar was colonised by a Southeast Asian community. UQ School of Social Science archaeologist Dr Alison Crowther said genetic research had confirmed that the inhabitants of Madagascar shared close ancestry with Southeast Asians, but archaeologists had until now struggled to find evidence of their early presence on the island. "We have now identified 2443 individual crop remains," she said. "The remains were obtained through archaeological excavations at 18 ancient settlement sites in Madagascar, the Comoros and coastal eastern Africa dating back to the 7^th to 12^th centuries. "What was amazing to us was the stark contrast that emerged between the crops on the east African coast and offshore islands versus those on Madagascar and the nearby Comoros Islands. "The more we looked, the starker the contrast became.