Christmas River
Subfossil site in southern Madagascar where bones of extinct elephant birds (Aepyornis, Mullerornis) show chop marks and fracture patterns consistent with human butchery, radiocarbon-dated to roughly 10,500 years ago - over 6,000 years earlier than most other evidence for people on the island. The dating and interpretation remain actively contested: some researchers challenge whether the marks are genuinely human-made or whether Madagascar was settled this early at all, with alternative estimates for first arrival ranging from just over 1,000 to more than 10,000 years ago.
Dated events and their evidence
- 8,500 BCE disputed
butchered elephant-bird bones (contested early-arrival evidence) source - 8,500 BCE disputed
butchered elephant-bird bones (contested early-arrival evidence) (open summary of the same finding) source
Where
22.7738° S, 45.3522° E
Sources
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat6925
- https://www.sciencenews.org/article/butchered-bird-bones-put-humans-madagascar-10500-years-ago
Each event carries Aion's own evidence grade (mainstream, disputed or speculative). This page repeats what the globe shows for this place.