Excavations in the center of Lagos have uncovered a manilla, a brass ring used to buy people, slaves, and a grave with five skeletons, one of them showing signs of violence, said the director of the Lagos Museum.
Lagos' connection to the slave trade was already known, but this is considered the first discovery of a piece used specifically as currency to buy people, which "confirms that the slave trade took place here", stressed the museum 's director, Elena Morán.
“Many of these pieces were produced in what is now the Netherlands, and commissioned by the Portuguese, and this shackle, dating from the 16th century, coincides with the time when the slave trade began,” said the archaeologist, adding that the shackle was discovered during excavations near the town gate.
According to Elena Morán, Gomes Eanes de Zurara, chronicler of Prince Henry the Navigator, already made reference in the “Crónica de Guiné” to what was supposedly the first major slave sale in Lagos, in which 235 people were sold, near the town gate, a version now attested by the recent discovery.
In the same area, next to the town gate, archaeologists made another discovery: a pit with five burials, one of the skeletons showing signs of violence, in an episode dating back to the 16th century.
Without yet being able to provide details about these burials, which are being studied by the Municipality of Lagos and the University of Coimbra, Elena Morán only says that it is an “unusual” situation in the urban space.
According to the person in charge, at this time, the urban center was organized with parish churches and associated cemeteries, and it was not common for burials to take place outside these spaces, unless they were people with contagious diseases, anomalies or slaves.
“We dug about 50 pits in that perimeter, some were wells for water, others for depositing waste or for reservoir purposes. The discovery of the burials was completely unexpected,” she said.
In 2009, during excavations for the construction of a car park, a huge rubbish dump was identified outside the walls of Lagos where 158 skeletons were found, which after being exhumed were confirmed to be of African origin.
The skeletons were mostly simply thrown into the site, a large urban rubbish dump in the Gafaria Valley, although some were placed there more carefully, Elena Morán said.
“All that collection is enough for thousands of studies and what is being studied in continuity are the anthropological studies. The studies are integrated into worldwide databases that are making it possible to determine the origin of those people”, she highlighted.
The rules for an ideas competition to build a memorial to enslaved people are being prepared, a way to pay tribute to them and draw attention to a problem that still exists in the world today.
“Slavery is not a thing of the past, the fact that we can talk about these issues helps to raise awareness, to be more alert, to identify the signs and eventually to be able to report it”, argued Elena Morán.
The public art piece will be placed in Gafaria, as part of a project that is still being developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Design, Technology and Communication (IADE) of the European University.
Source https://postal.pt/
