Centuries-old DNA helps identify origins of slave skeletons found in Caribbean
Centuries-old DNA helps identify origins of slave skeletons found in Caribbean
Friday, March 13, 2015
A newly developed genetic technique has enabled researchers to sequence DNA from the teeth of
300-year-old skeletons, helping to pinpoint where in Africa three slaves had likely lived before being captured and transported to the Caribbean.
More than 300 years ago, three African-born slaves died in St Martin but their names and precise ethnic background remained a mystery.
For centuries, their skeletons were subjected to the hot, wet weather until they were unearthed in 2010 during a construction project in the Zoutsteeg area of the capital city of Philipsburg.
Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California and the University of Copenhagen, have extracted and sequenced tiny bits of DNA remaining in the skeletons' teeth.
More:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Centuries-old-DNA-helps-identify-origins-of-slave-skeletons-found-in-Caribbean_18558455
