Teniky
Sign in to saveTeniky is a geological and archaeological site located in the Isalo Massif, a mountainous formation in Madagascar's southwestern Ihorombe region. It is situated in relative isolation and seclusion, over from the nearest coast. The site is notable for its unique rock-cut architecture, which is unlike any other found in Madagascar and the wider East African coast. The enigmatic complex spans nearly , and contains precise stone walls, quarries, terraces, niches, rock-cut boulders and stone basins.
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- archaeological site
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- Teniky
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Encyclopedic overview
15 sectionsContents
- Site
- Zone 1
- Zones 2 and 3
- Zones 4 and 5
- Zones 6 and 7
- Zone 8
- ''Petit Grotte''
- ''Grande Grotte''
- Niches
- Slabs, blocks, and rock-cut boulders
- Sakalava Tombs
- Archaeology and theories of origin
- Schreurs et al. excavations and Zoroastrian necropolis theory
- Notes
- References
Teniky is a geological and archaeological site located in the Isalo Massif, a mountainous formation in Madagascar's southwestern Ihorombe region. It is situated in relative isolation and seclusion, over from the nearest coast. The site is notable for its unique rock-cut architecture, which is unlike any other found in Madagascar and the wider East African coast. The enigmatic complex spans nearly , and contains precise stone walls, quarries, terraces, niches, rock-cut boulders and stone basins.
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found at newly-discovered man-made structures at the site found them to date to the 10th–12th centuries CE. Shards of Chinese and Southeast Asian pottery found at Teniky date to the 11th–14th centuries CE. A 2024 study of the rock-cut niches at Teniky identified their closest architectural parallels as first-millennium Zoroastrian niches in Iran, particularly in the Fars region, suggesting that the site may have been a necropolis constructed by settlers of Zoroastrian origin.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Teniky” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.