Using Scientific Diving as a Tool to Tell the Story of Human History: Bringing the São José Paquete de Africa Into Memory.

Summary

Scientific diving is a powerful tool that can be used to tell the story of human history and cultural behavior. On December 3, 1794, the São José Paquete de Africa, a Portuguese ship transporting over 500 captured Africans, left Mozambique, on the east coast Africa, for what was to be a 7,000 mile voyage to Maranhao, Brazil, and the sugar plantations. The ship was scheduled to deliver the enslaved Africans in February, 1795, some four months later. However, the journey lasted only 24 days. Buffeted by strong winds, the ship rounded the treacherous Cape of Good Hope and came apart violently on two reefs not far from Cape Town, South Africa. The São José Paquete de Africa represents one of the earliest, "experimental voyages" from East Africa to the Americas that eventually led to the shift that brought East Africa into the Transatlantic slave trade to an unprecedented level. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Considerations in African Diaspora Material Culture and Heritage   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 499