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South Africa discovery reveals slave ship artefacts | South Africa discovery reveals slave ship artefacts |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Artefacts from a slave ship wrecked off South Africa are due to be unveiled in Cape Town. | Artefacts from a slave ship wrecked off South Africa are due to be unveiled in Cape Town. |
They are thought to be the first objects to be recovered from a slave ship that went down while it was transporting people. | They are thought to be the first objects to be recovered from a slave ship that went down while it was transporting people. |
Archaeologists hope the objects will help scholars, as well as be a memorial to all those caught up in the trade. | Archaeologists hope the objects will help scholars, as well as be a memorial to all those caught up in the trade. |
Millions of Africans were transported as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and many died on the journey. | Millions of Africans were transported as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and many died on the journey. |
Remnants from shackles, iron bars used as ballast for the ship and a wooden pulley block will be shown for the first time at Cape Town's Iziko Slave Lodge museum on Tuesday. | Remnants from shackles, iron bars used as ballast for the ship and a wooden pulley block will be shown for the first time at Cape Town's Iziko Slave Lodge museum on Tuesday. |
Experts say that the iron ballast is a sign that the ship was used to transport slaves as this was often used to weigh the vessel down because humans are not as dense as other types of cargo. | |
Some of them are due to be loaned to Washington's Smithsonian National Museum of African American History. | Some of them are due to be loaned to Washington's Smithsonian National Museum of African American History. |
The objects were recovered by a joint South African-US team from the Portuguese ship the Sao Jose-Paquete de Africa, which went down in rough conditions just 100m off the coast of Cape Town in December 1794. | |
It is thought to have been transporting more than 400 enslaved people from Mozambique to Brazil. | It is thought to have been transporting more than 400 enslaved people from Mozambique to Brazil. |
The ship was sailing at a time when people captured on Africa's east coast were being brought into the trans-Atlantic trade, which mostly involved the continent's west coast, the Smithsonian museum says. | |
The Sao Jose had been discovered by treasure hunters in the 1980s, but it was only in 2010 that researchers realised it was a slave ship. | The Sao Jose had been discovered by treasure hunters in the 1980s, but it was only in 2010 that researchers realised it was a slave ship. |
Since then the dive around the ship has been kept secret in order to protect the site. | Since then the dive around the ship has been kept secret in order to protect the site. |
Sao Jose-Paquete de Africa | |
Source: Smithsonian.com | |
Survivors resold | Survivors resold |
As well as the unveiling of the artefacts on Tuesday, there will be a memorial to those who died on board. | As well as the unveiling of the artefacts on Tuesday, there will be a memorial to those who died on board. |
Researchers say that about half of those being transported drowned. | Researchers say that about half of those being transported drowned. |
The ship's captain treated the humans as property in a testimony about the accident submitted to an inquiry, and those who were saved were resold in Cape Town's slave market. | The ship's captain treated the humans as property in a testimony about the accident submitted to an inquiry, and those who were saved were resold in Cape Town's slave market. |
No human remains have been found at the wreck site. | No human remains have been found at the wreck site. |
Divers from Mozambique, South Africa and the United States will be going to the wreck to leave earth from Mozambique Island, where the ship departed with its human cargo. | Divers from Mozambique, South Africa and the United States will be going to the wreck to leave earth from Mozambique Island, where the ship departed with its human cargo. |