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Archeology of large river mouths: Case of the Ivondro River
Chantal Radimilahy, Lecturer – Institute of Civilizations / Museum of Art and Archeology,
University of Antananarivo
“The Ambodisiny site is located about ten kilometers south of Toamasina. As usual, the river flows
according to the floods and the cyclones.
The excavation was conducted at the Ambodisiny Village and started with a surveys conducted with the
students from the University of Toamasina as part of their practicum in archeology. Ambodisiny is a very
well-known site. Written documentations from the 19th century mention the presence of a big chlorite
schist jar in this site, which is considered as a sacred object by the local population. But between 1940 and
1947, a soldier voluntarily broke it into pieces.
The features of the local pottery are similar to the ones found on some sites in Swahili, along the east
African coast, Comoros, the eastern, western and southern coasts of Madagascar. This is a red pottery
characterized by decorative patterns observed especially on the pottery lip. The ochre red coating and the
decoration on the lips are the indicators from 12th century sites.
Ambodisiny’s upcoming works will be focused on, particularly the role of this 1 kilometre site and the
relationship between the coastal and inland areas. Such an important site must have satellite sites that we
also need to discover.”
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