New stable isotope map of Angola helps archaeologists trace individual life histories across the African Diaspora
Published Date: 4/24/2023
Source: phys.org
Archaeologists at UC Santa Cruz used predictive modeling to map strontium isotope ratios across all of modern-day Angola, a region in Southwest Africa that was once a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade. Researchers compared the resulting map with existing data on strontium isotope ratios from human remains to predict likely regions of origin within Angola for four individuals who had been buried in cemeteries for enslaved people across the Americas.