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Whole-genome analysis offers clarity about remains of 36 enslaved Africans in 18th-century Charleston

Building on previous work from the community-initiated Anson Street African Burial Ground project, a team of researchers from Penn led a community-engaged collaborative study that confirmed that the individuals closely align genetically with populations in West and West Central Africa.
Four people kneel outside in front of a memoerial plaque, each person with one hand touching it. The words "African Burial Ground ca. 1750-1800" are visible.
Anson Street African Burial Ground (ASABG) members (from left) Theodore Schurr of Penn, Joanna Gilmore of ASABG and the College of Charleston, Raquel Fleskes of the University of Connecticut, and La'Sheia Oubré of ASABG at the memorial plaque at the site where the Ancestors were re-buried. (Image: Servant Emannuel Branch)

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