Teniky

Teniky

Teniky pictured in satellite photography from the Sentinel-2 satellite mission in 2018
Shown within Madagascar
Region	Ihorombe
Coordinates	22°18′09.47″S 45°18′27.20″E
Part of	Isalo Massif
History
Material	Sandstone, conglomerate
Founded	c. 10th–12th centuries CE
Cultures	Zoroastrian settlers (proposed), Sakalava, Bara
Architecture
Architectural styles	Rock-cut architecture
Architectural details	Niches, terraces, pillars, benches

Teniky is a geological and archaeological site located in the Isalo Massif, a mountainous formation in Madagascar's Ihorombe region. The site is notable for its unique rock-cut architecture, which is unlike any other found in Madagascar and the wider East African coast.

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. The Teniky site is accessible only by hiking across steep and rugged terrain. It features "clustered caves, the entrances to which are partially closed by walls made of cut stones, flat areas with foundation stones, artificially hollowed excavations at the base of the cliffs, carved blocks of stones, etc." The most well-known archaeological site at Teniky, known since at least the late 19th century, has been referred to by various names, including Grotte des Portugais, a reference to a theory by French naturalists Alfred and Guillaume Grandidier that the site's walls were built by shipwrecked Portuguese sailors in the early sixteenth century—an interpretation that later archaeologists found unlikely. Other names include Grande Grotte, les sarcophages, le temple du soleil, la colonnade du marché, les réceptacles, and les nids de pigeons.

Site

A map of the Teniky archaeological site, with zones distinguished by Schreurs et al. outlined in red, Sakalava tombs marked in yellow, and the Sahonafo River running through the complex

The 2024 expanded study by Schreurs et al. descriptively divides the Teniky site into eight archaeological zones, with the Sahanafo River cutting between the site's eastern and western sides. In Zone 1 are rock-cut niches discovered in 2021. Zone 2, which contains Zone 1, is the westernmost zone of Teniky, comprising a "north-south trending hill with terraces and dry stone walls". Zone 3 contains dry stone walls, including some in a forested area, one 120 metres (390 ft) long, and one 750 metres (2,460 ft) long. Zones 4 and 5 contain sandstone quarries on the east and west sides of the Sahanafo, respectively. Zone 6 contains a "nearly closed" circular dry stone wall with a diameter of approximately 150 metres (490 ft). Zone 7 contains terraces and dry stone walls on a ridge.

Zone 8

600 meters south of Zone 7 is Zone 8, the previously-known cirque formed by fluval erosion where rock-cut architecture, terraces, and carved sandstone walls are situated. Man-made terraces in Zone 8 cover an area of roughly 20 hectares (49 acres), with the largest terrace having an area of 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft). The main archaeological structures of the cirque include dozens of rock-cut niches, sandstone walls, carved boulders, and the Petit Grotte: a rock-cut chamber with pillars and benches.

Petit Grotte

The Petit Grotte, so referred to by Ginther and Hérbert in 1963, is situated in the northern face of the southernmost cliffs of the cirque. Its entrance is approximately 140 centimetres (55 in) high and 100 centimetres (39 in) wide, and its maximum internal height is roughly 120 centimetres (47 in). The chamber's floor is covered with quartz grains, and three large pillars—one broken and attached only at the top—are carved in the chamber's center. Benches with small pillars on their backs are carved into three sides of the chamber.

Grande Grotte

A large rock shelter, referred to by Ginther and Hérbert as Grande Grotte, is delimited by two parallel stone walls assembled without mortar from precisely squared and stacked sandstone blocks. The inner wall is 15 meters (49 ft) long, 3 meters (9.8 ft) high, and 70 centimeters (28 in) wide, and contains an opening—probably an entrance to the shelter. Bevelled blocks on either side of the apparent entrance's base suggest that the opening may once have held "some kind of closure". The left part of the inner wall has collapsed, and had degraded somewhat since a 1940 expedition (photographed by Jacques Faublée) by 2021. Almost every block of the wall bears carved graffiti with names and dates going back to the late 19th century. The remains of the parallel outer wall are darkly weathered from exposure to rain and wind, but scratching the outer wall's blocks reveals the same light color as the inner wall's blocks'. The blocks' sandstone was likely sourced from the quarries in Zones 4 and 5.

The construction style of the parallel walls of the Grande Grotte is unique and unknown across Madagascar and all of the East African coast. A niche containing a bench is cut into the northern part of the rock shelter, with a recessed opening that suggests it could be closed off.

Niches

Carved in a cliff face about 200 meters (660 ft) northwest of the Grande Grotte are ten rectangular niches, roughly 120 centimeters (47 in) high and 80 centimeters (31 in) wide and deep, separated by vertical walls which have pillar-like shapes in frontal view. Some lighter, less friable layers in the sandstone still bear tool marks. 10 meters (33 ft) north of these rectangular niches are four circular niches cut into a cliff face 1 meter (3.3 ft) above ground level. A circular depression at the same level but 70 centimeters (28 in) from the southernmost niche is possibly a heavily eroded fifth niche.

Just south of the Petit Grotte is a series of niches cut roughly 1 meter (3.3 ft) above ground level, with circular recesses around their openings which suggest that the niches could be closed off with stones or wooden slabs.

Roughly 150 meters (490 ft) northeast of the Petit Grotte is a series of six roughly circular niches cut into the cliffs around 120 centimetres (47 in) above ground level and spaced roughly 1 meter (3.3 ft) apart. Two of the niches have eroded together into one, and several niches are connected through holes carved into their dividing walls. 2 metres (6.6 ft) from these six meters is a single niche cut at a slightly higher level.

On the northern side of the cliffs are six rectangular rock-cut niches with irregular back wallsm suggesting that they were left unfinished.

A series of 35 smaller carved niches covers an approximate horizontal distance of 40 meters (130 ft). No artifacts were found within the niches in the 2021–2022 archaeological survey, though some niches contained the nests of birds of prey.

Slabs, blocks, and rock-cut boulders

A terrace in the cirque contains aligned sandstone slabs, suggesting a structure whose longest face is parallel to the adjacent cliff wall. On the inner side of the slabs is a conglomerate block with recesses carved into its sides and top—possibly a basin to contain water or fire.

On the slopes of the cliffs of the cirque are two large conglomerate boulders, apparently carved and eroded. The first, roughly 1 meter (3.3 ft) high, has a rectangular base that is stepped on one side and a gabled roof. Its four sides have two recessed openings each, suggested that the openings could be closed off. The boulder's interior has been hollowed out with a flat base. The second boulder, of approximately the same shape and size as the first, is also hollowed out, with a pillar in its center resembling the pillars inside the Petit Grotte. Ginther and Hérbert, considered these boulders to be likely architectural models for the Petit Grotte, but Schruers et al. consider such an effortfully carved model to be unlikely, and instead opine that the boulders were ritual objects.

Sakalava Tombs

Throughout the area of the Tenika site are six stone tombs associated with the Sakalava culture, standing 1–1.5 metres (3.3–4.9 ft) high, mostly on elevated ridges. All the tombs show signs of looting and destruction. The Sakalava people inhabited the site until being driven out by the Bara, most likely in the 19th century. Residents of a village called Sahanafo on the Sahanafo River's eastern bank were relocated outside the boundaries of the Isalo National Park in 1962, the year of the park's establishment.

Archaeology

A 2019 examination of satellite imagery revealed the Teniky archaeological complex to be far larger than previously known. This discovery, which included terraces, niches, paths, and stone walls, prompted the first detailed archaeological surveys of the site, conducted in 2021 and 2022. Prior to this, only Zone 8 of the complex had been previously known.

In 1963, French anthropologist and archaeologist Pierre Vérin proposed that the inhabitants of the caves at Teniky may have been connected to the Rasikajy culture.