Unearthing History II : Excavating in Madagascar

This documentary follows a team of archeologists travelling to the South West of Madagascar to excavate animals remains in caves and swamps. The team consists of Owen, Julian, Krish, Tsimihole and Alessandra. They are assisted by locals and paleontology students. The story takes place in caves and swamps around the region of Itampolo. But before we get there, it was important to me to introduce the uniqueness of the fauna and flora of Madagascar. Then we travel south to Itampolo and discover its people and lifestyle and how life is in this dry part of the world.

This area of Madagascar has dried out 40,000 years ago. There was tall canopy forest, huge lemurs, elephant birds among others. Swamps were full of giant crocodiles, pygmy hippos. Since the arrival of humans, 3,000 years ago, this area is still logged on a daily basis for wood. Human activity puts enormous pressure on the surroundings. Many species are facing extinctions. There are no more tropical forest and swamps, only small trees and spine trees who could survive the dry climate. Many animals like lemurs can’t adapt to deforestation There are many questions the team wants to shed light on : What can those remains tell us on those animals and its living area ? What is the human impact on those extinctions ? How are the contemporary animals behaving ? Are there new species to find ? The aim of those studies : understand why it went extinct and protect the endangered species.

In this long feature, we excavate in 4 caves and classify remains of extinct and an contemporary animals found in those caves in 2023 and 2024, and in swamps between 2022 and 2024. After the excavation, we assist an important part of the job at the Besely Conservation camp : classifying the remains . The team goes through various topics to help protect the fauna and flora : the link of deforestation and human activity and poverty, involving local communities so they can understand the role of the fauna and flora. The work the team has started is huge and can’t be done in one generation. Samples are actually being analysed. Those remains are available in Madagascar to any scientist and other interested parties to learn more about the past and actual environment. The palaeontologist students are here to give a hand and learn from the team, and will hopefully be able to continue the work.