Pre-settlement Madagascar

Pre-settlement Madagascar appears on the timeline as a people or culture of Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands (Central and Southern Africa) from c. 3200 BCE to 400 CE, a span of more than 3,600 years. Its people spoke Unknown or undeciphered languages (Indus, Minoan, Moche, Nazca, Chavin, Jomon and other unattested languages).

Madagascar's giant lemurs, elephant birds and pygmy hippos lived with few or no people. Cut-marked bones suggest brief visits by foragers, and lasting settlement came only in the first millennium CE.

See Pre-settlement Madagascar on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates: c. 3200 BCE to 400 CE
Duration: more than 3,600 years
Type: People or culture
Region: Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands, Central and Southern Africa
Language family: Unknown or undeciphered

Events in Central and Southern Africa during its time

1000 BCE Bantu farmers reach the Great Lakes
500 BCE Iron smelting in the Great Lakes
50 The Periplus describes Azania

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

Minoan civilization c. 3100 to 1450 BCE, Europe
Byzantine Empire 395 to 1453 CE, Europe
Byzantine Empire 395 to 1453 CE, Middle East
Ghana Empire (Wagadu) c. 300 to 1200 CE, North and West Africa
Kingdom of Aksum c. 100 to 940 CE, North and West Africa
Moche (Mochica) c. 100 to 800 CE, South America
Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE, North and West Africa
Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE to 550 CE, Mesoamerica and Caribbean
Tiwanaku c. 400 to 1000 CE, South America
Shang dynasty c. 1600 to 1046 BCE, East Asia

Questions

When did Pre-settlement Madagascar exist?

c. 3200 BCE to 400 CE, about more than 3,600 years. These dates are approximate, because the evidence for its beginning or end is uncertain.

Where was Pre-settlement Madagascar?

Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands, in Central and Southern Africa.

What language did Pre-settlement Madagascar speak?

Unknown or undeciphered. This family includes Indus, Minoan, Moche, Nazca, Chavin, Jomon and other unattested languages.