The Underwater Archeology of a French Slave Ship In Northern Mozambique- L'Aurore

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Underwater Archeology of a French Slave Ship In Northern Mozambique- L'Aurore," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Beginning in 1999, underwater archeologists from Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, and the United States have documenting and protecting the many shipwrecks that surround Mozambique Island.

Under the direction of Dr. Ricardo Duarte, Dr. Yolanda Duarte, Dr. Hilario Madiquida, and Dr. Stephen Lubkemann, the partnership has documented dozens of shipwrecks and has located what are likely the remains of the notorious French slave ship L'Aurore.

On 17th February, 1790, L’Aurore was hit by a typhoon while at anchor close to Mozambique Island with a cargo of 600 enslaved Africans. With most of the enslaved Africans locked below decks, the crew abandoned the ship and the Africans to their fate—in the morning 331 of them had perished. The ship was partially salvaged immediately after sinking but then lay, undisturbed for 230 years.

This session will present the scientific and historical evidence for the site identification as part of the Slave Wrecks Project.