Tsimihety - Settlements

Traditionally, Tsimihety prefer to live in small villages of about a dozen houses. There are a few larger villages, however, which are relics of the French policy of amalgamation. These villages have survived because they are located near particularly rich soils. Although their houses are built of semipermanent materials (mud, dung), Tsimihety are highly mobile; consequently, villages grow and decline constantly. Homesteading is not uncommon. Rice fields surround the villages, and pastures rise above them, on the lower hill slopes. All houses are built in parallel rows, oriented on a northeast/southwest axis. Granaries are on the perimeter.