title: The early colonial atlantic world: New insights on the African Diaspora from isotopic and ancient DNA analyses of a multiethnic 15th-17th century burial population from the Canary Islands, Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Canary Islands are considered one of the first places where Atlantic slave plantations with labourers of African origin were established, during the 15th century AD. In Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain), a unique cemetery dated to the 15th and 17th centuries was discovered adjacent to an ancient sugar plantation with funerary practices that could be related to enslaved people. In this article, we investigate the origin and possible birthplace of each individual buried in this cemetery, as well as the identity and social status of these people.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consists of 14 individuals radiocarbon dated to the 15th and 17th centuries AD. We have employed several methods, including the analysis of ancient human DNA, stable isotopes, and skeletal markers of physical activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  1) the funerary practices indicate a set of rituals not previously recorded in the Canary Islands; 2) genetic data show that some people buried in the cemetery could have North-African and sub-Saharan African lineages; 3) isotopic results suggest that some individuals were born outside Gran Canaria; and 4) markers of physical activity show a pattern of labour involving high levels of effort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This set of evidence, along with information from historical sources, suggests that Finca Clavijo was a cemetery for a multiethnic marginalized population that had being likely enslaved. Results also indicate that this population kept practicing non-Christian rituals well into the 17th century. We propose that this was possible because the location of the Canaries, far from mainland Spain and the control of the Spanish Crown, allowed the emergence of a new society with multicultural origins that was more tolerant to foreign rituals and syncretism.
authors.affiliation: State University of Peninsula de Santa Elena, La Libertad, Ecuador.|G.I. Tarha. Deparment of Historical Sciences, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fregel
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lightfoot
authors.affiliation: University of the Basque Country, Vitoria, Spain.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Tibicena, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alamón
authors.affiliation: Tibicena, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guillén
authors.affiliation: Tibicena, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: G.I. Tarha. Deparment of Historical Sciences, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D055699:Cemeteries / Q000266:history; D002648:Child; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D063947:Enslavement / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D013030:Spain; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D004247:DNA
keywords: African Diaspora; Canary Islands; ancient DNA; skeletal markers of physical activity; stable isotopes