Madagascar Henry & Chantal 3

Summer 2013 saw the initiation of new fieldwork in northern Madagascar as part of a collaboration between the Sealinks Project and the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie, Antananarivo.  The research aims to explore Madagascar’s early maritime links, and involves scholars from various universities, including the Universities of Oxford, Bristol, Michigan, and Sydney.  The new initiative features the application of new archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and genetic research methods aimed at investigating Madagascar’s early links with Southeast Asia.  It follows signing last year of a Memorandum of Understanding by Dr. Chantal Radimilahy on behalf of the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie and by Dr. Nicole Boivin on behalf of the University of Oxford.  The project was co-directed by Dr. Radimilahy (pictured front left), Dr. Alison Crowther (Oxford) and Mr. Solomon Pomerantz (Oxford).  Henry Wright (front right) and Mark Horton also played a key role, and directed a related Sealinks Project expedition to the Comores in collaboration with the Centre National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique, Moroni.