Africans slaves burial site discovered near Lagos

Paul Rees 10 April 2019

lagos2 Archaeologists have discovered more than 150 skeletons of African slaves at the site of an old rubbish dump in Lagos.

The skeletons were found at Valle da Gafaria, just outside the medieval walls of the city at a site used for burials between the 15th and 17th centuries.

The skeletons' ancestry was revealed through genetic analysis of the bones and dental formation that suggested the people were from southern Africa and of Bantu origin.

Remains of imported ceramics, animal bones, and African style ornaments also were found at the site.

Research conducted by Maria Teresa Ferreira, Catarina Coelho, and Sofia Wasterlain of the University of Coimbra, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, looked at why the Africans were buried in a rubbish dump instead of a more fitting cemetery.

The site is one of the few designated African slave burial grounds and is the oldest one to be uncovered.

Comments

0 #3 Peter Booker 2019-04-12 09:53

The maps and information which I found as I followed AL´s suggestion show that Bantu have always been sub-Saharan. They may have been in areas around present-day Gabon and Cameroon. But certainly in the areas now occupied by Angola, Namibia and Southern Africa, and countries on the eastern seaboard of Africa.

I think that the people who left these skeletons cannot have come from the areas which were originally subject to razzias during and shortly after the time of Infante D Henrique.

Unless of course the maps of Bantu expansion on Wikipedia require some adjustment.

0 #2 AL 2019-04-11 13:12

Quoting Peter Booker:

The Bantu origin of these skeletons needs some explanation. The first slaves brought to Lagos in the mid 15th century were from West Africa (i.e. not Bantu). And the first Portuguese explorer to reach Southern Africa was Diogo Cão in the mid 1480s. The principal port for the importation of slaves ceased to be Lagos when Infante D Henrique died in 1460; ships were required to dock at Lisbon.

So if these bones are from people of Southern African origin, there needs to be further historical investigation.

The Bantu people are originally from west Africa they migrated south and east about a 1000 (or more) years ago. Look up Bantu expansion. Genetic information shows they are of Bantu origin, but perhaps not from southern Africa.

0 #1 Peter Booker 2019-04-11 08:40

The Bantu origin of these skeletons needs some explanation. The first slaves brought to Lagos in the mid 15th century were from West Africa (i.e. not Bantu). And the first Portuguese explorer to reach Southern Africa was Diogo Cão in the mid 1480s. The principal port for the importation of slaves ceased to be Lagos when Infante D Henrique died in 1460; ships were required to dock at Lisbon.

So if these bones are from people of Southern African origin, there needs to be further historical investigation.

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