About a third of the skeletons showed signs of traumatic injuries – some may be work caused by accidents, others from episodes of violence, said Teresa Ferreira, one of the four researchers from Coimbra University Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, in comments to Lusa News Agency.
The four researchers are studying one of the “oldest collections” of salves in the world and the only large scale collection known in Europe.
Most of the skeletons belonged to individuals from the 15th century and were found on an urban ‘midden’ (refuse heap) of that time outside the walls of Lagos, in the Algarve, a town that was the first European port-of-call for unloading slaves.
Teresa Ferreira said that the injuries seen on the right forearm of many skeletons could have been a defensive move (by right-handed people), to protect their heads.
Out of the 158 skeletons that were found, there are 107 adults and 49 children (plus two which could not be classified), and 52 percent of the slaves were women and most died before they were 30 years old, she said.
The fact that they were thrown on a midden, some tied up, “shows they were among the first salves to dock in Portugal” – later, the slaves were baptized and buried in cemeteries.