The world’s fourth largest island continues to have its secrets. In Madagascar, investigations have recently been carried out on the isolated archaeological site of Teniky (Isalo massif, Ihorombe region, south of the island), revealing an enigmatic ancient architecture, carved into the rocky landscape.
In a paper published in the journal Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa on September 11, archaeologists describe the discovery as unique in Madagascar and the East African coast. They suspect it is an ancient necropolis, built by settlers of Zoroastrian origin. That is, practicing the monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism, founded in Persia (now Iran) about 3,500 years ago.
Mysterious structures older than expected
In the first half of the 20th century, visitors to Teniky described the first archaeological structures in a river cirque – a geological formation that looks like an amphitheater-shaped valley.
They included artificial terraces, niches carved into the steep cliffs, and a rock shelter, demarcated by walls made of carved sandstone blocks. The latter is sometimes called the “Grotte des Portugais” (Portuguese Cave), because legend has it that a Portuguese ship ran aground on the coast of Madagascar in the 16th century. Guido Schreurs, a geologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland, tells Newsweek:
Supposedly, […] The crew is said to have crossed the island to reach another point on the coast, where it was more likely that Portuguese ships, en route to India, would pass. During their crossing, they supposedly stayed in the Isalo National Park and built the stone walls there.
However, the expert doubts this explanation. “For what [les Portugais auraient-ils fait] the effort of building such a beautiful wall if they were just passing through?”he wonders.
During his research, he discovered new documentation on the sandstone blocks of the rock shelter, including a publication in a magazine published by the Madagascar Tourist Office in 1963. The architecture of the structures is documented there… and leads Guido Schreurs to believe that it is indeed unlikely that they were built by shipwreck survivors.
By examining high-resolution satellite images of the Isalo National Park, the researcher identifies, more than 1.5 kilometers west of the river cirque where the first remains were found, other similar architectural elements, with rectangular and linear characteristics.
In 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, he went there with Malagasy archaeologists and guides. A mission that allowed him to confirm the presence of structures carved into the rock and finely sculpted sandstone walls, previously unknown.
It took a year for the geologist to return to excavate and document them. The Malagasy and Swiss team found fragments of pottery and small pieces of charcoal, which were radiocarbon dated. The evidence suggests that the structures are older than expected, built between the 10th and 12th centuries AD, a period when Madagascar was actively involved in trade with the Indian Ocean.
The site, “much bigger” as imagined, was surely busy at that time. “We now know that the shipwrecked Portuguese did not build the structures at Teniky in the 16th century”concludes Guido Schreurs, who adds that the other terraces and niches discovered in the river cirque could date from the same period.
A possible Zoroastrian connection in Madagascar?
In addition, the scientists showed that the rock-cut architecture had stylistic parallels with structures found in the Fars region of Iran, dated to the 1st millennium CE (or earlier) and attributed to Persian Zoroastrian communities.
“The niches cut into the cliff walls at Teniky and the stone basins on the terraces adjacent to the cliff walls are interpreted to have had a ritual function, perhaps linked to Zoroastrian funerary practices.the specialist submits to Newsweek. I want to emphasize that further research is needed to examine this hypothesis.”
If evidence were to support this theory, it would mean that Zoroastrian communities left not only southwest Asia for India – where they are still known as Parsis – but also for other parts of the Indian Ocean between the end of the first millennium and the beginning of the second. And that in Madagascar, where genetic research has so far mainly revealed a mixture of African and Asian populations, other Persian groups could have participated in the settlement of the island.
Questions remain. Where and when did the community that eventually settled in Teniky first arrive on the coast? Did they come directly from their home region, or did they first settle in other parts of the Indian Ocean? How did they interact with other contemporary sites in Madagascar and East Africa? Why did they move inland, more than 200 kilometres from the coast, to an isolated site in the Isalo Mountains? When and why was the site abandoned? These are all questions that drive Guido Schreurs. New excavations are planned for 2025.
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