Genome-wide ancestry of 17th-century enslaved Africans from the Caribbean

Hannes Schroeder, Maria del Carmen Avila Arcos, Anna Sapfo Malaspinas, G. David Poznik, Marcela Sandoval Velasco, Meredith L. Carpenter, José Victor Moreno Mayar, Martin Sikora, Philip L.F. Johnson, Morten Erik Allentoft, Jose Alfredo Samaniego Castruita, Jay B. Haviser, Michael W. Dee, Thomas W. Stafford, Antonio Salas, Ludovic Antoine Alexandre Orlando, Eske Willerslev, Carlos D. Bustamente, M. Thomas P. Gilbert

    62 Citationer (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Between 1500 and 1850, more than 12 million enslaved Africans were transported to the New World. The vast majority were shipped from West and West-Central Africa, but their precise origins are largely unknown. We used genome-wide ancient DNA analyses to investigate the genetic origins of three enslaved Africans whose remains were recovered on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. We trace their origins to distinct subcontinental source populations within Africa, including Bantu-speaking groups from northern Cameroon and non-Bantu speakers living in present-day Nigeria and Ghana. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first direct evidence for the ethnic origins of enslaved Africans, at a time for which historical records are scarce, and demonstrate that genomic data provide another type of record that can shed new light on long-standing historical questions.
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS)
    Vol/bind112
    Udgave nummer12
    Sider (fra-til)3669–3673
    Antal sider5
    ISSN0027-8424
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - 24 mar. 2015

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