A new paper challenging claimed evidence that humans were on Madagascar much earlier than thought and hunted elephant birds:
Atholl Anderson , Geoffrey Clark, Simon Haberle, Tom Higham, Malgosia Nowak-Kemp, Amy Prendergast, Chantal Radimilahy, Lucien M. Rakotozafy, Ramilisonina, Jean-Luc Schwenninger, Malika Virah-Sawmy & Aaron Camens (2018)
New evidence of megafaunal bone damage indicates late colonization of Madagascar.Â
PLoS ONE 13(10): e0204368.
The estimated period in which human colonization of Madagascar began has expanded recently to 5000â1000 y B.P., six times its range in 1990, prompting revised thinking about early migration sources, routes, maritime capability and environmental changes. Cited evidence of colonization age includes anthropogenic palaeoecological data 2500-2000 y B.P., megafaunal butchery marks 4200-1900 y B.P. and OSL dating to 4400 y B.P. of the Lakatonâi Anja occupation site. Using large samples of newly-excavated bone from sites in which megafaunal butchery was earlier dated >2000 y B.P. we find no butchery marks until ~1200 y B.P., with associated sedimentary and palynological data of initial human impact about the same time. Close analysis of the Lakatonâi Anja chronology suggests the site dates <1500 y B.P. Diverse evidence from bone damage, palaeoecology, genomic and linguistic history, archaeology, introduced biota and seafaring capability indicate initial human colonization of Madagascar 1350-1100 y B.P.
However, this PLoS ONE paper does not cite or address evidence presented in this other very recent paper about earlier human arrival and butchering of elephant birds, evidently published after the above paper was written.
James Hansford, Patricia C. Wright, Armand Rasoamiaramanana, Ventura R. PÃrez, Laurie R. Godfrey, David Errickson, Tim Thompson and Samuel T. Turvey (2018)
Early Holocene human presence in Madagascar evidenced by exploitation of avian megafauna.
Science Advances 4(9): eaat6925
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat6925