Interpretation of Haplogroup H in an Enslaved Individual
Interpretation of Haplogroup H in an Enslaved Individual
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Date
2018-05
Authors
Hahn, Miranda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University Honors College, Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
In the summer of 2014 excavations took place to recover the remains of twenty
individuals from an unmarked cemetery at the Nashville Zoo. After recovery these
remains were then examined by Dr. Shannon Hodge who created a biological profile of
each individual buried in the cemetery. The twenty individuals in the unmarked graves
were likely enslaved African Americans, evidenced by their skeletal ancestry, the
antebellum date of their burial, and their presence on a property known to have been a
slaveholding. DNA analysis revealed that one individual from this cemetery, Burial
Three, belonged to haplogroup H, which is common among those of European ancestry.
Though this haplogroup is associated with Europeans, it is also found in northeastern
Africa. It is likely that this individual’s maternal ancestry was not European, but rather
that her ancestors were likely from northeastern Africa or Madagascar.
Description
Keywords
DNA,
biological anthropology,
Haplogroup H,
archaeology,
history