Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827)

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dc.contributor.authorKootker, Lisette Men_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMbeki, Lindaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMorris, Alan Gen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKars, Henken_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDavies, Gareth Ren_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-31T07:42:41Z
dc.date.available2016-10-31T07:42:41Z
dc.date.issued2016en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe Dutch East India Company (VOC) intended the Cape of Good Hope to be a refreshment stop for ships travelling between the Netherlands and its eastern colonies. The indigenous Khoisan, however, did not constitute an adequate workforce, therefore the VOC imported slaves from East Africa, Madagascar and Asia to expand the workforce. Cape Town became a cosmopolitan settlement with different categories of people, amongst them a non-European underclass that consisted of slaves, exiles, convicts and free-blacks. This study integrated new strontium isotope data with carbon and nitrogen isotope results from an 18 th -19 th century burial ground at Cobern Street, Cape Town, to identify non-European forced migrants to the Cape. The aim of the study was to elucidate individual mobility patterns, the age at which the forced migration took place and, if possible, geographical provenance. Using three proxies, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, δ 13 C dentine and the presence of dental modifications, a majority (54.5%) of the individuals were found to be born non-locally. In addition, the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data suggested that the non-locally born men came from more diverse geographic origins than the migrant women. Possible provenances were suggested for two individuals. These results contribute to an improved understanding of the dynamics of slave trading in the Indian Ocean world.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationKootker, L. M., Mbeki, L., Morris, A. G., Kars, H., & Davies, G. R. (2016). Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827). <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22373en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKootker, Lisette M, Linda Mbeki, Alan G Morris, Henk Kars, and Gareth R Davies "Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827)." <i>PLoS One</i> (2016) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22373en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKootker, L. M., Mbeki, L., Morris, A. G., Kars, H., & Davies, G. R. (2016). Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827). PLoS one, 11(6), e0157750. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157750en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Kootker, Lisette M AU - Mbeki, Linda AU - Morris, Alan G AU - Kars, Henk AU - Davies, Gareth R AB - The Dutch East India Company (VOC) intended the Cape of Good Hope to be a refreshment stop for ships travelling between the Netherlands and its eastern colonies. The indigenous Khoisan, however, did not constitute an adequate workforce, therefore the VOC imported slaves from East Africa, Madagascar and Asia to expand the workforce. Cape Town became a cosmopolitan settlement with different categories of people, amongst them a non-European underclass that consisted of slaves, exiles, convicts and free-blacks. This study integrated new strontium isotope data with carbon and nitrogen isotope results from an 18 th -19 th century burial ground at Cobern Street, Cape Town, to identify non-European forced migrants to the Cape. The aim of the study was to elucidate individual mobility patterns, the age at which the forced migration took place and, if possible, geographical provenance. Using three proxies, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, δ 13 C dentine and the presence of dental modifications, a majority (54.5%) of the individuals were found to be born non-locally. In addition, the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data suggested that the non-locally born men came from more diverse geographic origins than the migrant women. Possible provenances were suggested for two individuals. These results contribute to an improved understanding of the dynamics of slave trading in the Indian Ocean world. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0157750 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 T1 - Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827) TI - Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827) UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22373 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157750en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22373
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKootker LM, Mbeki L, Morris AG, Kars H, Davies GR. Dynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827). PLoS One. 2016; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22373.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Human Biologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2016 Kootker et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherStrontiumen_ZA
dc.subject.otherIsotope analysisen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGeologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherMolarsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherIncisorsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherIndian Oceanen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDieten_ZA
dc.subject.otherDentitionen_ZA
dc.titleDynamics of Indian Ocean slavery revealed through isotopic data from the colonial era Cobern Street Burial site, Cape Town, South Africa (1750-1827)en_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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