Bones of Columbus' crew analyzed with surprising results

William Atkins
Sunday, 22 March 2009 21:53

Science - Biology

The article also states, “The skeletons also exhibit evidence of scurvy, a common affliction of 15th century sailors who lacked vitamin C on their long voyages, as well as signs of malnutrition and physical stress."

And, "Chronicles of the voyage noted that most of the Europeans, including Columbus himself, fell sick shortly after landfall on Hispaniola, and many subsequently died, perhaps becoming the first to be buried in the La Isabela church graveyard.”

For information on the 1990 dig at La Isabela, please read the November 27, 1990 New York Times article “Bluff in Dominica Yields Columbus's First Colony.”

Read more in the ScienceDaily.com article "Archaeologists Find Evidence Of Earliest African Slaves Brought To New World."

Within the article, Dr. Price is quoted to have said, "This is the earliest documentation of the African Diaspora in the New World.... It does mean that slaves were brought here almost as soon as Europeans arrived."

The article concludes by stating, "African slaves were brought to the New World as the Spanish needed labor to harvest timber and work in the mines that enriched Spain. Early in their rule, the Spanish enslaved Indians to perform heavy labor, but they turned to the African slave trade as diseases introduced by Europeans decimated native peoples."

Isn't fascinating how much we really don't know about history, and how much we are still discovering today?