This Archaeological Site In Madagascar Belonged To A Mysterious Group Of People And Was Constructed About 1,000 Years Ago

Many years ago, a mysterious group of people lived in southern Madagascar. They built numerous stone chambers and terraces that were carved into cliff sides.
The architecture is unlike anything else in Madagascar and the East African coast. It is unclear who exactly built these structures and why.
The site is now known as Teniky, and it stretches across 75 acres in the Isalo National Park. It was discovered over 100 years ago.
A new study has suggested that a Zoroastrian community in Madagascar constructed the site of Teniky around 1,000 years ago. This conclusion was reached following the first detailed excavations of the site in 2021 and 2022.
In the 1940s, French naturalists Alfred and Guillaume Grandidier visited the site. They speculated that it was constructed by shipwrecked Portuguese sailors as they trekked across the island looking for a port.
Later, during the 1960s, a trench excavation uncovered a fragment of a Chinese jar dating back to the 16th century. Since then, the site has not been explored in depth due to its inaccessibility—until now.
“Arriving at the site requires a strenuous walk of nearly 20 km [13 miles] across a rugged terrain. All the equipment and food has to be carried to the site. It also has to be mentioned that archaeological research in Madagascar always requires collaboration with local institutions and authorizations from different ministries (which is sometimes challenging),” said a study author and archaeologist named Dr. Schreurs.
Throughout the excavations at Teniky, a variety of structures were found, including pillars, chambers, carved stone benches, and dozens of circular and rectangular stone niches.
The archaeologists also came across man-made terraces, rock-cut boulders, stone basins, tombs, and ceramic shards from China and Southeast Asia. The shards date back to the 11th and 13th centuries.

jordieasy – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Based on the ceramic fragments and radiocarbon dating of the charcoal from the site, it was likely occupied during the 10th and 12th centuries.
The inhabitants must have participated in the Indian Ocean trade network since the ceramics were not of local origin.
These findings disprove the idea that Portuguese sailors built the site, as the first Portuguese ships did not set sail in the Indian Ocean until 1498, which is a few centuries later than the proposed construction of Teniky.
The researchers looked into the local Malagasy Madagascan population for similar structures. After reviewing the literature from this time period, they found that Teniky’s structures shared traits with sites in many regions throughout Iran.
“The closest stylistic parallels are found in Iran, where a multitude of archaeological sites show niches cut in steep rock walls dating to the first millennium A.D. or earlier,” said the archaeologists.
This led them to hypothesize that Teniky was built by Zoroastrian settlers from Iran. Zoroastrianism was an ancient monotheistic religion practiced throughout the Persian Empire.
Its practitioners believed that bodies should not be buried directly in the ground to prevent pollution.
So, the rock-cut chambers in the cliffs of Teniky may have served as Zoroastrian necropolises. Some of the smaller chambers could have been used to store the bones of the deceased.
The researchers plan to return to Teniky in 2025 for further excavations. They hope to learn more about the lives of the settlers who first came to Madagascar.
The study was published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa.
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