PYRAMIDS IN MAURITIUS

During my visit to African island of Mauritius I have reviewed the phenomenon of pyramidal structures in south-eastern section of the island - Plaine Magnien. (These structures have been mentioned in Guimar Ethnological Park in Tenerife and in two articles authored by Antoine Gigal of France. National Monument Fund of Mauritius did have protective signs on pyramid walls 40 years ago.)

My conclusions and recommendations are as follow:

1. Seven man-made step pyramids were built on the island from the volcanic rocks. Their geometry is regular, with four triangular faces, leveled base, shaped corner-stones, same orientation, carefully planned construction which required more than 30.000 tons of material. Such an engineering project would need work of 100 men during 5-year period. Origin of the pyramids, their builders, time of building or purpose is unknown at this moment. The pyramids were not built by the recent civilizations (Europeans XVI-XIX century or Arabs X-XI century), but much earlier.
   
2. These structures need to obtain protected status by the proper Government bodies because of their global significance. Their similarities in design and execution with the pyramids on Canary Islands, Sicily and Central and South America is striking. Mainstream scientific view about the pyramid-building process has to be changed. In Mauritius, we potentially have the first case of advanced sea-faring civilization who built the structures.
   
3. Recommendation is to establish international inter-disciplinary team to investigate the pyramids together with the local scientists. Team could consist of archaeologists, geologists, geophysicists, geodesic, satellite and geo-radar experts.
   
4. Limited area around the pyramids could be cleared, reconstruction work could take place, and signage with the info-desk could be erected. This way, basic elements for the archaeological tourism might be established in a very inexpensive way. With added marketing efforts, another important venue to attract more tourists on Mauritius could be achieved.