Discarded in the trash: burials of African enslaved individuals in Valle da Gafaria, Lagos, Portugal (15th‐17th centuries)

Abstract

In 2009, an excavation carried out in Valle da Gafaria, Lagos, Portugal, allowed for the recovery of the skeletal remains of 158 individuals buried in a dump used during the 15^th‐17^th centuries. The archaeological context of the findings, the presence of African items associated with the skeletons, the skulls' morphology, and the presence of intentionally modified teeth, suggest that these individuals were African enslaved individuals. The aim of this work is to analyse how these men, women, and children were inhumed according to their sex and age (adults vs. non‐adults). Adults were mostly buried in supine position (54.3%). However, more women (27.3%) than men (9.5%) were inhumed in prone position. In non‐adults, the most common positions were the supine (36.2%) and the lateralis (38.8%). The foetal position was more commonly found in non‐adults (25.0%) than adults (4.3%, only women). Both adults (79.4%) and non‐adults (80.0%) were mostly buried with an orientation other than the typical Christian canonical practice at the time (head to west and feet to east). More non‐adult individuals (66.7%) appear to have been buried with care than adults (38.8%). Regarding both the orientation and the burial care, no differences were found between the sexes. Pieces of evidence of having been tied were found in four females, one male, and one non‐adult individual. All these results support the hypothesis that these individuals were discarded, bringing light to the way these African enslaved individuals were treated even at their death.

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