Objective
This project aims to use ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses to trace the geographical origins of African slaves who were brought to the Caribbean as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the trans-Atlantic slave trade resulted in the forced migration of over eleven million Africans to the Americas. In recent years, there has been growing interest among scholars, as well as the general public, in restoring knowledge of their origins. Historical documents provide obvious sources of information but their usefulness is restricted by the fact that they generally refer to the coastal areas from where slaves were shipped, rather than where they actually originated. Recently, geneticists have tried to tackle the question of origins from a different angle, using modern genetic data. The phylogeographic perspective has revealed that it is possible to use the inheritance characteristics of the non-recombining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule to trace the maternal ancestry of individuals to specific geographical regions within Africa and, in some cases, even to particular ethnic groups. However, there is a problem with this approach. Although only about 200 years have passed since the abolition of the slave trade, there has been considerable population movement to and within the Americas, so that modern genetic distributions may not accurately reflect the effects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This is where this project comes in. Ancient DNA analyses on archaeological skeletal remains provide a window back in time, so to speak, that enables us to test hypotheses based on modern data. We propose to use aDNA analyses of human remains from several archaeological sites in the Caribbean to reconstruct the ancestral relationships of African slaves and their descendants directly. In doing so, we hope to restore some of the links that were so cruelly severed by the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology ethnoarchaeology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.