Equal Justice Initiative
A team of researchers analyzed the genetic composition of São Tomé inhabitants, in which he identified the contribution of slaves from Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria and Angola.
Human genetic mixture, involving contact between two or more previously isolated populations, can be a complex process, influenced by social dynamics.
Recently, a team of researchers reconstructed the complex genetic mixing stories of the population of the Sao Tome and Principein the Gulf of Guinea, who suffered successive Forced migration vacancies and deliberate from Africa since the fifteenth century, during and after the transatlantic slave trafficking.
During the study, whose results were presented in a published in this month’s issue of the magazine Molecular Biology and Evolution, the investigators identified the Slave contribution from Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria and Angola in the genetic composition of inhabitants of the São Tome archipelago.
“There was the idea that many slaves from Sao Tome came from Angola, and that there was a disproportionate contribution of people enslaved from Angola – who would have contributed to the genetic composition of São Tomé ”, explains Jorge Rocharesearcher at the Center for Research on Biodiversity and Genetic Resources at the University of Porto and co-author of the study.
“Today We know it’s not like thatwe know that the slaves who were taken to Sao Tome have a double origin: Some came from Angola, a large part, but almost in the same part also came from the Gulf of Guineafrom the region of Nigeria, which was the ancient kingdom of Benin. ”
According to Jorge Rocha, “as the sugar industry and sugar cane plantations were growing, and that Portugal extended its relations Diplomatics with the Kingdom of Congo, many more people came from northern Angola and Congo and also contributed to the genetic composition of Sao Tome. ”
In the nineteenth century more workers arrived Coming from other Portuguese colonies, namely Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde, who were subjected to easement conditions.
To Identify the genetic history of São Tométhe researchers analyzed the DNA of 100 inhabitants of the island.
During the study “ impact of forced migrations and the social dynamics associated with the plantations of plantations, which shaped the genetic diversity of the current population of São Tomé ”, notes the researcher.
“Os genetic results are in accordance with historical records the main routes of slave trade and allow to reconstruct a history of mestizures between populations of different regions From the African continent, namely from the Gulf of Guinea and Angola ”, read in the article.
“ genetic contributions important associated with workers’ migrations after the abolition of slaveryespecially from Cape Verde, ”writes the authors of the study, who was co-lid by Jorge Rocha and Paul Verduresearcher at the National Museum of Natural History at the University of Paris.
The researchers identified “deep marks”Of these successive migrations in the genetics of the inhabitants of São Tomé, and found five genetic groups distinct on the island.
“The Angolarsdescendants of fugitive slaves who lived isolated for centuries, the ceilingsdescendants of released slaves who became the main local community after the decline of the sugar economy, and the Cape Verdeansdescendants of workers hired from the neighboring archipelago ”.
The other two groups “result from fusion between these communities Over time, ”detail the investigators.
“This investigation shows that human populations are not static blocks in time, but the result of successive genetic mixtures Among communities that were already mixed, ”concluded the study’s authors.
