In a bid to discover more about the slave trade, archaeologists are still working day in and out on several projects. Most recently, archaeologists discovered more than 150 skeletons of enslaved Africans at the site of an old rubbish dump in Portugal.
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Remains of an African slave found in Lagos, Portugal [Credit: Dryas Arqueologia LDA] |
According to the research conducted by the archaeologists, the rubbish dump was used as a burial site between the 15th and 17th century when slavery was very rampant in Portugal.
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Adult female from Valle da Gafaria whose positioning suggests she may have been tied up for burial [Credit: M.T. Santos Ferreira via Forbes] |
Aside from the bones found, remains of imported ceramics, butchered animal bones, and a few African style ornaments were also found.
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Santos Ferreira, with one of the human remains of Lagos [Credit: Dryas Arqueologia LDA] |
Research conducted by Maria Teresa Ferreira, Catarina Coelho, and Sofia Wasterlain of the University of Coimbra and published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology probed further into why the enslaved Africans were buried in a rubbish dump instead of a rather fitting cemetery.
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The excavation site [Credit: Dryas Arqueologia LDA] |
Author: Elisabeth Ofosuah Johnson | Source: Face2Face Africa [April 05, 2019]
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