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Previous research involved
undertaking the first archaeological survey of the 'kingdom' of Andrantsay
in the Central Highlands of Madagascar.
The story of the rise and fall of the Andrantsay polity is also a history
of the changing landscape. Archaeological survey showed a variety of
dramatic changes in how people inhabited the hills and valleys of the
Andrantsay region from the 12th to 20th centuries AD, tracing the changing
traditions of life and death within the landscape. Bringing the landscape
history together with historical documents and oral traditions allowed a
new understanding of the strategies used by the Merina state to take over
the Andrantsay region in the 19th century, showing that their success
depended on their embedded understanding of the relationship of local
people to the landscape.
This research was carried out between
1997-2000 and in 2005 with the support of Jean Aimé Rakotoarisoa and
Chantal Radimilahy of the Musée
d'Art et d'Archéologie Antananarivo, Madagascar, together with Ramilisonina, Victor Razanatovo, and Samuel Ratovoarizo,
also of the Musée and with help from Brian Boyd and a team
of students that included Vonjy Ramilisonina, Léa Ramilisonina, Kerry
Harris, and Hanta Andrianovalona. Funding was provided by the University of Michigan,
the British Institute in Eastern Africa,
the Wenner Gren Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
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