Multidisciplinary investigation reveals an individual of West African origin buried in a Portuguese Mesolithic shell midden four centuries ago

• Cabeço da Amoreira is a well-studied shell midden with a robust chronology based on a large number ofradiocarbon dates on Mesolithic human burials. Surprisingly, we discovered one individual that lived about 400years ago buried in this site. We employed a multidisciplinary approach integrating archaeology, historical records,genetics, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis to investigate the biogeographic origins of thisindividual and burial circumstances. We could determine that this was a man of West African origin, probablyfrom Senegambia, arriving in Portugal via the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Our study provides new insights intoaspects of the life and death of a first-generation African individual in Portugal during the Trans-Atlantic SlaveTrade period and highlights the power of multidisciplinary research to unravel unwritten history.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Atlantic Slave Trade

Portugal

Shell midden

Biomolecular archaeology

Ancient DNA

Radiocarbon dating

Stable isotopes

Parish records

Archaeology

Arkeologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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