Wreck of 221-year-old slave ship discovered off South Africa
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Underwater archaeology researchers explore the site of the São José slave ship wreck near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa [Credit: Iziko Museums] |
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, many of the 12 million Africans who arrived in America followed these tragic routes. Packed in squalid hulls, they suffered the agony of enslavement, from the whips of ship captains to near starvation-level food rations. When they reached their destination, most faced a lifetime in chains.
But many never made it that far. In turbulent waters along the African coast or surprised by gales in the Caribbean, the ships were buffeted by fierce winds and engulfed by 50-foot waves. Their wooden hulls shattered against jagged rocks. At least 600 slave ships with names like Our Lady of Mercies, The Meermin, and L’Auorore wrecked along their voyage. The ships, the crew, and the human cargo were lost—thousands of voices silenced on the ocean floor.
Fast forward 200 years. The ships’ remains are still hidden under the surf and sand but, perhaps, not for long. Stephen Lubkemann, associate professor of anthropology, and Paul Gardullo, museum curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, are part of an international research team that have set out to locate, document, and secure the unique—and increasingly threatened—archaeological remains related to the maritime aspects of the slave trade. Called the Slave Wreck Project, the underwater effort also involves a surface-education component to assist countries like South Africa and Mozambique in creating their own cultural resource management programs.
Launched several years ago with funding from the Ford Foundation and in collaboration with co-founder Jaco Boshoff of IZIKO (Museums of South Africa), the slave wreck project was infused with additional support in 2011 from the GW–Smithsonian Opportunity Fund. Other organizations involved in the maritime excursion are the South African Heritage Resources Agency, the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, and the U.S. National Parks Service-Submerged Resources Center.
Recently, at a 30-foot-deep site off the southern Africa coast, an iron ballast was discovered by Boshoff laying across a reef under layers of sand and surging currents. The ships used these ballasts to balance the weight of their slave cargo. While research is still underway, there is a distinct possibility that the ballast may be from a Portuguese ship that sunk at the turn of the 18th century with over 400 slaves aboard.
“As we document these ties, we bring out the stories of Africans that were captured, put in horrific conditions within the bowels of the ships, and, ultimately, ended up in the catastrophe of a shipwreck,” said Kamau Sadiki, vice-president of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers.
“To find a tangible artifact, something to raise their silent voices, is an extraordinary thing.”
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Iron
ballast recovered from the São José slave ship wreck was used to weigh down the ship and its human cargo [Credit: Iziko Museums] |
Still, locating a shipwreck is an arduous process, one that requires equal parts archival detective work, technological savvy, and underwater skills. For every hour in the ocean, hundreds of hours are spent combing through archival records. The project’s researchers have logged hundreds of hours at libraries and archives from North and South America to Europe and Africa and spent months thumbing through digital documents, microfiched ship logs, and crumbling parchment maps.
But archival records can only advance the search so far. Rarely, Lubkemann noted, is a shipwreck account specific enough to pinpoint an exact dive-spot. The next step is old-fashioned legwork. The additional support from the GW-Smithsonian Opportunity Fund enabled Boshoff, Lubkemann, and their partners to focus on the southern African location and gather clues from the local maritime community. They interviewed fishermen who snagged their nets on planks and swimmers who spotted shadows in the sand. They also gained access to state-of-the-art technology, such as a magnometry tool to detect metallic remains.
“We get a blip and we go down to check it out,” Benanty said. “It could be a shipwreck. Or it could be a lobster trap.”
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Copper fastenings (right) recovered from the São José slave ship wreck held the structure of the ship together. Copper sheathing (left) provided exterior protection [Credit: Iziko Museums] |
The international team of maritime archeologists will continue to scour the waters around the southern tip of Africa for additional clues on the sunken slave ships. The goal is to eventually uncover artifacts from all of the major maritime slave routes, including the East African, Trans-Atlantic, and the often-overlooked internal American slave trade. The team plans to expand its search to the Virgin Islands, Cuba, Senegal, and possibly even East Coast ports like Annapolis, Baltimore, and Alexandria. Meanwhile, they are also involved in the training of the next generation of maritime archeologists from GW and other U.S. and African schools.
“This is a relatively young field and it’s exciting to see more and more students in the water,” Lubkemann said. “I look at this as the intersection between anthropology and history—with a lot of hard work and little bit of adventure thrown in.”
Source: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences [June 01, 2015]
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