Introduction
II
It has been claimed since the 1950s that
the primary settlement
of Madagascar was by Austronesians from SE Borneo, although the exact dates and circumstances of this transoceanic
movement remain to
be settled.
However, both the earliest settlement and
the source of
the migrants has been called into question in recent times.
The following speculative scenario
provides a more nuanced
history of both the coast and the islands