Enslaved blacks in Maryland linked to 42,000 living relatives
The analysis marks the first time historical DNA has been used to trace descendants and distant cousins of slaves, said researchers.
A construction crew working on a freeway expansion in Maryland in 1979 discovered human remains on the grounds of an 18th-century blacksmith shop. Eventually, archaeologists uncovered 35 graves in a cemetery where slaves had been buried.
In the first effort of its kind, researchers have now linked the DNA of 27 African Americans buried in the cemetery to nearly 42,000 living relatives. Nearly 3,000 of them are so closely related that some people may be direct descendants.
Henry Louis Gates Jr., historian at Harvard University and The study's author, published Thursday in the journal Science, said the project marks the first use of historic DNA to connect enslaved African Americans to living people.
"The history of black people was destined to be a dark, unlit cave," said Dr. Gates. With the new research, "you bring light into the cave".
In an accompanying comment, Fatimah Jackson, an anthropologist at Howard University, wrote that the research was also important because the local Maryland community worked alongside geneticists and archaeologists.
"This is how this type of research should be done," wrote Dr. Jackson.< /p>
The cemetery was located in a former ironworks called the Catoctin Furnace, which began operating in 1776. During its first five decades, enslaved African Americans did most of the work, including chopping wood for charcoal and crafts like cooking pans and sockets used in the Revolutionary War.
Elizabeth Comer, archaeologist and president of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, said some of the workers were most likely skilled in iron working before they were enslaved.
"When you steal these people from their village in Africa and you bring them to the United States United States, you bring people who had training in iron technology,” she said.
When discovered, some of the remains were taken to the Smithsonian for safekeeping. In 2015, the historical society and the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society in Frederick, Maryland, organized a further investigation. the furnace took the slaves. Some bones contained high levels of metals like zinc, which the workers inhaled in the fumes from the kiln. The teenagers suffered spinal damage while carrying heavy loads.
The identities of the African Americans buried were a mystery, so Ms. Comer scoured the logs local ministers to find clues. She put together a list of 271 people, almost all of whom were known only by first name. A family of liberated African Americans, she discovered, provided charcoal to the furnace operators.
From this list, Mrs. Comer managed to trace a family of bonded laborers back to life people and a family of f...
The analysis marks the first time historical DNA has been used to trace descendants and distant cousins of slaves, said researchers.
A construction crew working on a freeway expansion in Maryland in 1979 discovered human remains on the grounds of an 18th-century blacksmith shop. Eventually, archaeologists uncovered 35 graves in a cemetery where slaves had been buried.
In the first effort of its kind, researchers have now linked the DNA of 27 African Americans buried in the cemetery to nearly 42,000 living relatives. Nearly 3,000 of them are so closely related that some people may be direct descendants.
Henry Louis Gates Jr., historian at Harvard University and The study's author, published Thursday in the journal Science, said the project marks the first use of historic DNA to connect enslaved African Americans to living people.
"The history of black people was destined to be a dark, unlit cave," said Dr. Gates. With the new research, "you bring light into the cave".
In an accompanying comment, Fatimah Jackson, an anthropologist at Howard University, wrote that the research was also important because the local Maryland community worked alongside geneticists and archaeologists.
"This is how this type of research should be done," wrote Dr. Jackson.< /p>
The cemetery was located in a former ironworks called the Catoctin Furnace, which began operating in 1776. During its first five decades, enslaved African Americans did most of the work, including chopping wood for charcoal and crafts like cooking pans and sockets used in the Revolutionary War.
Elizabeth Comer, archaeologist and president of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, said some of the workers were most likely skilled in iron working before they were enslaved.
"When you steal these people from their village in Africa and you bring them to the United States United States, you bring people who had training in iron technology,” she said.
When discovered, some of the remains were taken to the Smithsonian for safekeeping. In 2015, the historical society and the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society in Frederick, Maryland, organized a further investigation. the furnace took the slaves. Some bones contained high levels of metals like zinc, which the workers inhaled in the fumes from the kiln. The teenagers suffered spinal damage while carrying heavy loads.
The identities of the African Americans buried were a mystery, so Ms. Comer scoured the logs local ministers to find clues. She put together a list of 271 people, almost all of whom were known only by first name. A family of liberated African Americans, she discovered, provided charcoal to the furnace operators.
From this list, Mrs. Comer managed to trace a family of bonded laborers back to life people and a family of f...
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