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The 17th-century colonization of North America brought thousands of Europeans to Indigenous lands in the Delaware region, which comprises the eastern boundary of the Chesapeake Bay in what is now the Mid- Atlantic region of the United States.1 The demographic features of these initial colonial migrations are not uni- formly characterized, with Europeans and European-Americans migrating to the Delaware area from other countries and neighboring colonies as single persons or in family units of free persons, indentured servants, or tenant farmers.2 European colonizers also instituted a system of racialized slavery through which they forcibly transported thousands of Africans to the Chesapeake region. Historical information about African- descended individuals in the Delaware region is limited, with a population estimate of less than 500 persons by 1700 CE.3,4 To shed light on the population histories of this period, we analyzed low-coverage genomes of 11 individuals from the Avery’s Rest archaeological site (circa 1675–1725 CE), located in Delaware. Previous osteological and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analyses showed a southern group of eight individ- uals of European maternal descent, buried 15–20 feet from a northern group of three individuals of African maternal descent.5 Autosomal results further illuminate genomic similarities to Northwestern European refer- ence populations or West and West-Central African reference populations, respectively. We also identify three generations of maternal kin of European ancestry and a paternal parent-offspring relationship between an adult and child of African ancestry. These findings expand our understanding of the origins and familial relationships in late 17th and early 18th century North America.
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Community-engaged ancient DNA project reveals diverse origins of 18th-century African descendants in Charleston, South Carolina
In this study, we present the results of community-engaged ancient DNA research initiated after the remains of 36 African-descended individuals dating to the late 18th century were unearthed in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina. The Gullah Society of Charleston, along with other Charleston community members, initiated a collaborative genomic study of these ancestors of presumed enslaved status, in an effort to visibilize their histories. We generated 18 low-coverage genomes and 31 uniparental haplotypes to assess their genetic origins and interrelatedness. Our results indicate that they have predominantly West and West-Central African genomic ancestry, with one individual exhibiting some genomic affiliation with populations in the Americas. Most were assessed as genetic males, and no autosomal kin were identified among them. Overall, this study expands our understanding of the colonial histories of African descendant populations in the US South.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2105384
- PAR ID:
- 10476085
- Editor(s):
- Stone, Anne
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Volume:
- 120
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0027-8424
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e2201620120
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- paleogenomics trans-Atlantic slave trade Colonial North America haplotype ancestry
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201620120
