Jason Laffoon's Archaeometry article in top 20 most read
The research article ‘The life history of an enslaved African’ is one of the top 20 read Archaeometry articles in the period of January 2017 to December 2018.
Multiple isotope evidence for forced childhood migration
The article focuses on five human teeth found in an archaeological excavation of an enslaved African domestic area at the Spring Bay Flat plantation on the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean. Dental anthropological and multi‐isotope (strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen) analyses of the teeth revealed that they belonged to a single individual who originated from Africa and survived a period of pronounced nutritional stress as a juvenile. The results provide rare insights into the life history of an individual who probably experienced enslavement, (forced) migration from Africa and adaptation to plantation life in the colonial‐era Caribbean.