Under the direction of Dr. Henry Wright, MS Sigrid Gabler, a graduate student at the Univeristy of Michigan, will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological research in the eastern region of Madagascar and focus on the emergence and development of iron working technology. Both historical records and archaeological evidence indicate that iron smelting was once widespread. Ms. Gabler will examine three sites in the Ankay region. She will map surface finds in terms of artifact densities, locate potential slag heaps and collect a sample of surface artifacts. In a second phase she will undertake subsurface testing for features, especially iron working locales. In the final field phase careful horizontal exposures will be made to uncover iron working locales. Size of slag heaps will be measured to determine production output. Carbon samples for dating and samples of plant remains will also be collected. Ceramic analysis will be conducted to establish both relative age of sites and to determine activities which occurred. Subsequent metallurgical analysis will serve to reconstruct the smelting process. Madagascar was originally settled by Southeast Asian peoples and not from the mainland continent of Africa. In prehistoric times chiefdoms developed and the earliest European observers found highly centralized societies. The means by which chiefdoms emerged on this isolated and circumscribed island however are not understood. Archaeologists have focussed much attention in recent years on how complex societies arise since this process is seen in many parts of the world. They believe that specialization and control over labor together with social stratification plays a major role but whether it serves as a cause per se or is a secondary manifestation is not known. Ms.Gabler's research will address this issue. Because the byproducts of iron smelting are so archaeologically visible and because they preserve well in the archaeological record, the Madagascar data provide an excellent entree to this issue. Extensive historical records give a context to interpret the prehistoric data. This research is important for several reasons. It will add significantly to our knowledge of a poorly understood region of the world. It will shed new light on the origins of complex society and will assist in the training of a promising student.
