Archaeological Identification, Investigation, and Implications of the Portuguese Slaver São José Paquette de Africa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "To Move Forward We Must Look Back: The Slave Wrecks Project at 10 Years" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In December 1794 the São José Paquete de Africa foundered near Cape Town, South Africa, while transporting over 500 slaves from Mozambique destined for northeastern Brazil, resulting in the death of over 200 souls. This presentation reviews the process through which independent lines of archaeological and archival evidence were mustered to locate and identify the shipwreck, and reviews the ongoing archaeological finds on the site since its identification. It also examines how this work is pioneering new approaches in maritime archaeology on several interrelated and mutually informing fronts, including technical understanding of shipwreck environments and site formation processes, critical interrogations of the concept of “archaeological site” itself, and modalities of engagement with stakeholder communities including descendant communities in South Africa and Mozambique.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• To Move Forward We Must Look Back: The Slave Wrecks Project at 10 Years   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33570