74
4 Transoceanic Trade and Migration (1)
Islands to Rhapta, either on sailing rafts or in double-outriggers, and that they could
only have done so in warm climate periods. According to Pliny the Elder, the width
of the Indian Ocean was crossed in high winds in winter (presumably exploiting the
winter monsoon). The route included a long stretch without landfall on a journey of
about 11,000 km.
4.4 The Origins of the Malagasy
Linguistic evidence, however, appears to establish the Barito River area of Borneo,
not the Spice Islands, as the home of the Madagascan colonists, and Y-chromosomal
evidence appears to support this view. Hurles et al., studying the paternal lines of the
Malagasy and of people from the Barito River area, note that the “genetic proximity
between the Malagasy and Borneo populations reflects the presence of appreciable
frequencies of lineages O1b and O2a ∗ in both populations, as well as a relative lack
of chromosomes belonging to O3 lineages” [12]. They point out that “the predominant Y-chromosomal haplogroups found in Polynesians, O3 and C, are not found at
all among Malagasy paternal lineages” (p. 899).
However, although both linguistic and Y-chromosomal evidence suggest an origin for Madagascan colonists in Borneo, this is contradicted by evidence from
maternal lines. Soodyall, Jenkins and Stoneking make the point that while the
Polynesian motif, which has been sourced by Oppenheimer to the Spice Islands
and Wallacea on the grounds of genetic diversity [13], “occurs in some parts of
Borneo and East Indonesia at low frequencies. . .it is not found in Indonesians from
the Barito River area (Borneo). . ., showing a lack of concordance between the linguistic and the genetic data concerning the origins of the Malagasy” [14]. They
comment that the presence of the Polynesian motif in Madagascar “suggests that
the founders of Madagascar were Polynesians or Polynesian ancestors” and that
their study shows “that migrations out of Southeast Asia led to the colonization not
only of Oceanic Islands, to the east, but also to Madagascar to the west”.
The apparent contradiction between the maternal and paternal evidence for the
origins of the Malagasy may have a simple explanation. Soodyall, Jenkins and
Stoneking suggest that the ancestors of Polynesians could have been founders in
Madagascar. They note that the “The frequency of the Polynesian motif is 18.2% in
the Malagasy; this was found at 96.2% of individuals with the 9-bp deletion” derived
from an Asian as opposed to an African source [15]. The near-complete coalescence
of the Polynesian motif in modern Malagasy populations of Asian descent suggests
a significant time span since a (probably first-wave) founding migration reached
Madagascar. It is likely that the Malagasy Y-chromosome lineages represent a later,
probably second-wave migration. For what the absence of O3 and C Polynesian
lineages among Malagasy paternal lineages suggests is a second-wave attack on a
first-wave colony in which men were slaughtered by the invaders and women spared.
Founding paternal lineages would have been wiped out, founding maternal lineages
preserved.
4 Transoceanic Trade and Migration (1)
Islands to Rhapta, either on sailing rafts or in double-outriggers, and that they could
only have done so in warm climate periods. According to Pliny the Elder, the width
of the Indian Ocean was crossed in high winds in winter (presumably exploiting the
winter monsoon). The route included a long stretch without landfall on a journey of
about 11,000 km.
4.4 The Origins of the Malagasy
Linguistic evidence, however, appears to establish the Barito River area of Borneo,
not the Spice Islands, as the home of the Madagascan colonists, and Y-chromosomal
evidence appears to support this view. Hurles et al., studying the paternal lines of the
Malagasy and of people from the Barito River area, note that the “genetic proximity
between the Malagasy and Borneo populations reflects the presence of appreciable
frequencies of lineages O1b and O2a ∗ in both populations, as well as a relative lack
of chromosomes belonging to O3 lineages” [12]. They point out that “the predominant Y-chromosomal haplogroups found in Polynesians, O3 and C, are not found at
all among Malagasy paternal lineages” (p. 899).
However, although both linguistic and Y-chromosomal evidence suggest an origin for Madagascan colonists in Borneo, this is contradicted by evidence from
maternal lines. Soodyall, Jenkins and Stoneking make the point that while the
Polynesian motif, which has been sourced by Oppenheimer to the Spice Islands
and Wallacea on the grounds of genetic diversity [13], “occurs in some parts of
Borneo and East Indonesia at low frequencies. . .it is not found in Indonesians from
the Barito River area (Borneo). . ., showing a lack of concordance between the linguistic and the genetic data concerning the origins of the Malagasy” [14]. They
comment that the presence of the Polynesian motif in Madagascar “suggests that
the founders of Madagascar were Polynesians or Polynesian ancestors” and that
their study shows “that migrations out of Southeast Asia led to the colonization not
only of Oceanic Islands, to the east, but also to Madagascar to the west”.
The apparent contradiction between the maternal and paternal evidence for the
origins of the Malagasy may have a simple explanation. Soodyall, Jenkins and
Stoneking suggest that the ancestors of Polynesians could have been founders in
Madagascar. They note that the “The frequency of the Polynesian motif is 18.2% in
the Malagasy; this was found at 96.2% of individuals with the 9-bp deletion” derived
from an Asian as opposed to an African source [15]. The near-complete coalescence
of the Polynesian motif in modern Malagasy populations of Asian descent suggests
a significant time span since a (probably first-wave) founding migration reached
Madagascar. It is likely that the Malagasy Y-chromosome lineages represent a later,
probably second-wave migration. For what the absence of O3 and C Polynesian
lineages among Malagasy paternal lineages suggests is a second-wave attack on a
first-wave colony in which men were slaughtered by the invaders and women spared.
Founding paternal lineages would have been wiped out, founding maternal lineages
preserved.