Henry Wright, Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano

Abstract

The book Early State Formation in Central Madagascar: An Archaeological Survey of Western Avaradrano is the culmination of decades of research in the central highlands of Madagascar. The book was written primarily by Henry T. Wright (p. 6), along with fourteen other contributors, and is based on archaeological fieldwork carried out from 1975 to 1996, northeast of the modern capital of Antananarivo. The fieldwork was predominantly surface surveys, complemented by test excavations and specialist studies. Hence the book reads as a survey equivalent of a major site’s final excavation report. Beyond those interested specifically in the archaeology of Madagascar, or the archaeology of Africa or the Indian Ocean, scholars will find this work a useful demonstration of the power of regional surveys in archaeology and a detailed case study in the processes of archaic state formation. I agree with JeanAime Rakotoarisoa who states in the Foreword that this monograph will be an important model for all future studies. The heart of this book is the “Catalogue of Site Information,” which is the first of five appendices (the other appendices are updated versions of previously published articles based on the Avaradrano survey). The site catalogue is the longest section of the book at 152 pages, and contains detailed information on each site recorded, including site maps of the ditched fortifications and drawings of the diagnostic ceramics. Augustin Holl in the Preface to the volume suggests that this site catalogue is also the most important part of the book, since the level of detail will enable an independent evaluation of the author’s conclusions, or even the use of this data set to pursue other questions. In their Introduction, the authors themselves point to Chapter 5 as “arguably the most important in this study”—the chapter that summarizes the seven archaeological phases, from the earliest Fiekena Phase in the Afr Archaeol Rev (2009) 26:59–62 DOI 10.1007/s10437-009-9044-6