Madagascar - Antongona

Antongona consists of two archeological sites dating from the 16th-18th century A.D. perched respectively at 1406 and 1515 m above sea level on natural bastions of rocks. An important wall of dry stones and numerous stone portals with or without lineaux extend the natural defenses. A village was once settled on each rock platform constituting formidable citadels and real strongholds. The first site at 1515 m altitude is also protected in its lower part by defensive systems dug ditches four in number. A path through the sides of the rocks leads to the platform where the village was located that could control the whole area over 360 °. In view of the beauty of the site, the Minis-tère de la Culture recreated in the 1980s three traditional wooden houses according to the models still standing elsewhere. These houses, two of which have been converted into local museums, have been built on the site of old homes that have disappeared. The second site perched at 1406 m above sea level is also home to important remains of dry stone: walls, retaining walls, por-tails and tombs of the seventeenth-eighteenth century .. It is located 300 m to the west of the first. Both are installed on the same chain made of huge granite rock and are good examples of archeological sites poorly fortified and dry stone works.