Fig. 2.

Location of sites in Madagascar. The southwestern sites are in the arid coastal strip. Ambolisatra receives ≈400 mm of annual precipitation, with high interannual variability. Belo-sur-Mer is likewise variable and receives ≈500 mm. Ambolisatra was excavated and cored at an interdunal pond site known today as Andolonomby (S23°04′/E43°45′). Excavations and coring were carried out at the Ankilibehandry site (S20°44′/E44°01′) near Belo-sur-Mer. Benavony (S13°43′/E48°29′) is a riparian marsh on the Sambirano River in the humid (2,500 mm/yr) northwest interior. A deep crater lake was cored at Lac Amparihibe (S13°18′/E48°13′) on the humid shelf island of Nosy Be (2,000 mm/yr). In the central highlands, cores were analyzed from the shallow crater lake Tritrivakely (S19°47′/E46°55′; 1,800-m elevation) and the volcanic barrier lake at Kavitaha (S19°02′/E49°34′; 1,210-m elevation).