The genetic origins of Saint Helena’s liberated Africans

Abstract

Between the early 16 th and late 19 th centuries, an estimated 12 million Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the transatlantic slave trade. Following Britain's abolition of slave trade in 1807, the Royal Navy patrolled the Atlantic and intercepted slave ships that continued to operate. During this period, the island of St Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic served as a depot for "liberated" Africans. Between 1840 and 1867, approximately 27,000 Africans were disembarked on the island. To investigate their origins, we generated genome-wide ancient DNA data for 20 individuals recovered from St Helena. The genetic data indicate that they came from West Central Africa, possibly the area of present-day Gabon and Angola. The data further suggest that they did not belong to a single population, confirming historical reports of cultural heterogeneity among the island's African community. Our results shed new light on the origins of enslaved Africans during the final stages of the slave trade and illustrate how genetic data can be used to complement and validate existing historical sources.

Ancestry, health, and lived experiences of enslaved Africans in 18th century Charleston: An osteobiographical analysis

“…The mitogenomes were sequenced to a depth coverage ranging from 31 to 418× (Table 2), with an average fragment length ranging between 63 and 88 base pairs (Table S6). The estimated percentage of mtDNAcontamination using mitogenome sequences ranged from 1.3 to 4.2%, which is comparable to observations in other historic period samples (Sandoval‐Velasco et al, 2019; Table 2). In addition, the mitochondrial haplotypes for the Ancestors did not match any of those obtained from the sample handlers who provided DNAs for comparative analysis (Table S7).…”

“…In 18th century individuals from upstate New York, two out of the four reported African haplogroups, L2b1 and L3e2b, also occurred in the Anson Street Ancestors (Lee et al, 2009). In addition, L3e1e mtDNAs identified in Zimbu (CHS13) and Tima (CHS31) were also observed in an 18th century liberated African community in St. Helena (Sandoval‐Velasco et al, 2019). More recently, subhaplogroups L2b1 and L3e1 were found in three of the Anson Street Ancestors were identified in African individuals from 16th century Mexico (Barquera et al, 2020).…”

“…When compared to other published mtDNA data for historic period African descended individuals, there is a notable overlap in haplogroup sharing. Of the 42 individuals for whom published data are available, 12 share derived haplogroups with the Anson Street Ancestors (Barquera et al, 2020; Fleskes et al, 2019; Lee et al, 2009; Sandoval‐Velasco et al, 2019; Santana et al, 2016; Schroeder et al, 2015). This observation suggests similarities in the maternal ancestries of populations living in regions targeted during the trans‐Atlantic slave trade.…”

“…While bioarchaeological and biochemical methods have generated critical information about demography, health, and mobility, new genomic techniques have greatly enlarged our understanding of the ancestry and biological relationships of historic period African populations and their descendants (Benn Torres, 2018; Jackson & Borgelin, 2010). The extraction of DNA from archeological individuals (i.e., ancient DNA) has provided insights into the origins of 17th and 18th century enslaved individuals (Barquera et al, 2020; Fleskes et al, 2019; Lee, Anderson, Dale, & Merriwether, 2009; Sandoval‐Velasco et al, 2019; Schroeder et al, 2015). Autosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analyses from these studies indicate the majority of these enslaved persons had ancestral affiliations with West and Central African populations.…”

Beyond broad strokes: sociocultural insights from the study of ancient genomes

“…In Estonia, the spread of Steppe ancestry via the Corded Ware Culture expansion also appears to have been malebiased, although this expansion additionally carried early farmer ancestry with a female bias 52 . Focusing on more recent samples, Sandoval-Velasco et al 53 detected a strong male sex bias in a burial population of liberated Africans who died on the island of St Helena, which reflects broader patterns in the latter phases of the transatlantic slave trade that are well attested historically.…”