Using DNA to Connect Living People to Enslaved Ironworkers at Catoctin Furnace

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 2023, “The Genetic Legacy of African Americans from Catoctin Furnace” was published in Science, demonstrating that it is possible to wed the power of massive direct-to-consumer ancestry databases with ancient DNA technology. Using the first reliable approach for identifying identical-by-descent (IBD) connections between present-day and historical people, we compared the DNA of 27 African Americans who labored at Catoctin Furnace, Maryland during the late 18th to early 19th centuries to that of more than nine million research participants in the 23andMe genetic database. Key findings are:

1. We identify 41,799 modern relatives. Of these, 2,975 are extremely close and include likely direct descendants.

2. We trace enslaved peoples’ origins in Africa. By sampling DNA from historical people with closer ties to Africa, we show that the enslaved workers at Catoctin derive from a small number of African groups, particularly the Wolof of West Africa and the Kongo of Central Africa.

3. We restore personal stories. Within the Catoctin African American cemetery, we identify 5 genetic families, primarily composed of mothers, children, and siblings who were buried close together.

4. We offer methods for communicating with descendants. We developed protocols to inform descendants and provide critical information and support.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39975.0