The team

Dr Zoë Crossland, of the Department of Anthropology, Columbia University also co-directs. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2001 for a project of archaeological survey in the highland Vakinankaratra region of Madagascar. She is currently Director of the Center for Archaeology at Columbia.

Dr Chantal Radimilahy, of the Institute of Civilizations, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Antananarivo is co-director of the Project. She received her doctorate from Uppsala University in 1998 for her study of the medieval city Mahilaka, on Madagascar’s northwest coast. She was director of the Museum from 2006-15.

Dr Rafolo Andrianaivoarivony is Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Antananarivo. His doctorate in Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory is from the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has directed excavation projects in the highlands and researched the management of rice and irrigation structures. He acts as consultant to our project.

Dr Bako Rasoarifetra is researcher and lecturer at the Center for Archaeology, University of Antananarivo and is affiliated with the Museum of Art and Archaeology. She received her doctorate from INALCO, University of Paris in 2010. Her expertise lies in archaeology, heritage studies and museology.

Dr Sarah Walshaw is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University. She undertook doctoral study in the field of archaeobotany at Washington University in St. Louis and has worked widely on macrobotanical remains across Africa.

Dr. Yijie Zhuang is Associate Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of University College London. His PhD is from the University of Cambridge where he studied geoarchaeology in relation to Ancient China. He brings his expertise on ancient rice paddies to the study of Madagascar’s agricultural landscapes.

Ramilisonina is Madagascar’s foremost field archaeologist. He has worked on the archaeology of Madagascar since the 1960s and has wide experience with survey and excavation across the island. He also farms his own rice and acts as our agricultural consultant.

Evin Grody is a doctoral student at Columbia University where she is researching the archaeology of the Zambian Iron Age. She is the project’s faunal analyst and taphonomic specialist. She also keeps us up to date with what’s going on in rugby.

Ally Mitchem is a doctoral student in the Anthropology department of Columbia University. Her expertise is in paleoethnobotany and she is developing a project looking at the history of Bartrams’ Garden, Philadelphia. She is our Columbia University ethnobotanical lab manager and life coach.