Mauritius (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Krish Seetah.

This is an abstract from the "Islands around Africa: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The colonization of Mauritius exemplifies the role played by humans in altering the ecosystems of remote islands. Previously uninhabited, it now has the highest population density of any African nation, and despite scant natural resources, also has one of the continent’s highest GDPs. Mauritius serves as an ideal case study...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Krish Seetah.

Between 1855-59, the island of Mauritius, with a landmass of only 2040 km2, was producing 10% of the world’s sugar: a staggering testimony to the power of imperial influence on ecology. The transformations that this intensification in cane production resulted in were far reaching. One facet that remains poorly understood is the context of disease, despite a well-developed historical narrative . This paper presents details of a series of malaria epidemics that plagued the island from the 1850s...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rosa Fregel. Martin Sikora. Krish Seetah. Hannes Schroeder. Carlos Bustamante.

From a demographic point of view, the island of Mauritius can be considered a multicultural melting-pot derived from forced and free labor, as it was there where the British conducted the 'Great Experiment' to replace slaves with indentured workers after abolition. Despite the huge potential that Mauritius offers for studying admixed populations, it has remained uncharacterized from a genetic perspective until now. Several genetic markers have been analyzed in the current Mauritius population...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Diego Calaon.

Between 2010 and 2013 an archaeological excavation was carried out in the warehouse where the Beekrumsing Ramlallah Interpretation Centre on Indenture Labour (BRIC) has been set up. In the 19th century, the warehouse was located in the proximity of the "Hospital Block" and nearby the "Immigrants’ sheds" of the Immigration Depot. The excavation represented an exceptional opportunity to investigate the topography and the industrial development of a key area of Port Louis. The ceramic, glass and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Stefania Manfio.

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Maritime Archeology of the Slave Trade: Past and Present Work, and Future Prospects", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Analyzing slavery through the lens of shipwrecks makes a significant contribution to the understanding of labor migration. The 'vessel' was a vehicle of culture contact, and the study of the artifacts found in the shipwreck can give us significant information on life at sea. Accordingly,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Krish Seetah.

This presentation centres on two distinct material assemblages, both representing resistance, but in markedly different ways and at different times. It also introduces a new regional comparative of African religious syncretism, longanis, a belief system that developed within slave communities, and offers both insightful similarities to Atlantic counterparts, as well a unique features in its own right. The article, undertaking a first such appraisal for the Indian Ocean, applies an archaeological...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jonathan Santana Cabrera. Jo Appleby. Krish Seetah.

This contribution presents the preliminary results of an osteobiograhical approach to the life conditions of a slave/ex-slave population from Le Morne cemetery (18-19th centuries, Mautiritius Island). We evaluate the incidence of several stress indicators/pathologies on the human remains that are the result of environmental conditions during life. Dental health, infectious diseases and physical activity markers were analyzed to address the daily life of this population. Our results indicate high...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rosa Fregel. Sara Armas-Quintana. Clara Díaz-Pérez. Javier Serrano. Alejandra Ordóñez.

This is an abstract from the "Islands around Africa: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One key period of history involved the forced migration of millions of people due to slavery. Information on the origins of the enslaved individuals has been reconstructed from historical records and, more recently, through the use of paleogenomic techniques. However, all these ancient DNA studies have been performed on...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Krish Seetah.

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Historical Archaeology in the Indian Ocean" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The materiality of slavery has received much attention over recent decades. Unequivocally focused on the Atlantic experience, comparative models from the Indian Ocean serve to enrich our understanding of slavery on a global scale. The body of literature on slave artefacts, mortuary practices, and diet highlight the nuances and...