Professor Chantal Radimilahy was the first woman in Madagascar to gain a PhD in Archaeology; the first to direct the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Antananarivo, and the first to run her own field project, which she undertook at the medieval town of Mahilaka on Madagascar’s northwest coast. Professor Radimilahy continues to teach at the University of Antananarivo and at other universities across Madagascar, and she remains highly active in archaeology, carrying out and publishing research at multiple sites across the island. She has been influential in encouraging many students in Madagascar to try out archaeology as a degree, and given many of them their first opportunities in fieldwork and excavation.
Chantal started her post-graduate education in France, undertaking a PhD (Thèse de 3è cycle) in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Ethnology at the Sorbonne in Paris between 1981 and 1985. This research was published as a BAR volume L’Ancienne Métallurgie du Fer à Madagascar (Ancient Iron-Working in Madagascar). Chantal then continued on to Uppsala to undertake a second PhD, which she completed in 1998 and published as Mahilaka: Excavations in an early town in North Western Madagascar.
Her interests have since extended to encompass the production of soft stone artefacts in north and east Madagascar, the archaeology of river mouths around the island, human settlement in the south, salvage and preventative archaeology of at-risk sites, and also the study of present-day practices to better understand the past. Here she has researched and written on traditional beliefs and practices, gender and the environment, and issues around threatened biodiversity.
As well as being an active field researcher Chantal has taken on a number of important membership and administrative roles in building African archaeology. She is a member of the Malagasy Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences, and Chair of the Malagasy Archaeological Association of the African Archaeology Network. She has also acted as both Chair and Member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), spending a six-year stint as Chair of ICOM Madagascar. She is currently an appointed expert in archaeology advising the Ministry of Cultural Heritage of Madagascar.
Chantal Radimilahy excavating at Andakavoera.
Chantal is on the editorial boards for a number of African archaeology journals: Studies in the African Past (Tanzania), Azania (British Institute in Eastern Africa), African Archaeological Review, Revue Afriques to name just a few. She has worked collaboratively with international projects, most recently acting as national coordinator for the MAGE program of genetic and ethnolinguistic research developed by the Universities of Bordeaux (Victor Segalen) and the University of Toulouse. She is currently co-directing the Sacred Rice project.
As will be obvious from this list of activities and achievements, Professor Radimilahy is an inspirational figure for those who work in Madagascar, and indeed for archaeologists elsewhere. She has been a key figure in developing Malagasy archaeology over the last decades, managing to accomplish a huge amount often in the face of limited resources. Professor Radimilahy juggles her numerous roles with grace and facility. It is always remarkable to watch her in action as she advises and encourages her students, coordinates with local faculty, visiting researchers and international research teams, acts as government advisor, and undertakes manifold acts of disciplinary service, all while continuing to push her own research and publications forward with enthusiasm and good humour. Chantal, we salute you!
Post by Zoë Crossland and Sarah Walshaw
Images provided by Chantal Radimilahy and used with permission.
