Cidade Velha (Cape Vert) - Africans and Europeans in an Atlantic city.

Summary

Cambridge University archaeologists have, since 2006, understaken rescue excavations at the historical Portuguese slave transhipment centre of Cidade Velha, Cape Verde. These new World Heritage Site excavations have revealed several structures related to domestic, public and religious functions, such as a church (and its early graveyard), hospital and the town's possible Customs House. From these hundreds of finds were recovered, including glass, metals and pottery. The latter is the most numerous and hundreds of vessels have been found, with most produced in Portugal, although there are other European production centres and, most notably, a large number of African wares. This site, a platform of people and commodities, is a perfect place to study some of the cultural, economic, social and ideological relations between Africa and Europe.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Portuguese finds in Portugal and overseas archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 641