The Life History of an Enslaved African: Multiple Isotope Evidence for Forced Childhood Migration from Africa to the Caribbean and Associated Dietary Change |
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Authors: | J. E. Laffoon R. Espersen H. L. Mickleburgh |
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Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands;2. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;3. Saba Archaeological Center (SABARC), Windward Side, Saba, The Netherlands Antilles |
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Abstract: | Archaeological excavations of an enslaved African domestic area at the Spring Bay Flat plantation on the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean, uncovered a small concentration of artefacts (shell, metal nails, animal bones and five human teeth) overlaid with a lock hinge, interpreted as a lockbox and its contents. Dental anthropological and multi‐isotope (strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen) analyses of the teeth revealed that they belonged to a single individual who originated from Africa and survived a period of pronounced nutritional stress as a juvenile. The results provide rare insights into the life history of an individual who probably experienced enslavement, (forced) migration from Africa and adaptation to plantation life in the colonial‐era Caribbean. |
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Keywords: | Caribbean isotopes enamel dentine migration diet juvenile |
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