The Paths of the European Conquest of the Atlantic: Osteological Evidence of Warfare and Violence in Gran Canaria (XV Century)

Description: European expansion in the Atlantic in the Late Middle Ages often implied the use of violence, involving tactics and weaponry unknown to some of the affected populations. Among the first places to suffer this violence were the Canary Islands, whose conquest lasted the whole of the 15th century. Documentary information about this historical episode is abundant, whereas archaeological evidence testifying to it is very rare. However, an individual from an indigenous funerary context of Gran Canaria (placed in a collective burial cave and wrapped in a shroud made of vegetable fibres) displays a large number of wounds, both on his skull and on the rest of the skeleton, probably caused by swords, suggesting a mortal attack conducted by one or more aggressors. Based on the study of injuries, it is considered a potential explanation of their origin, concluding that most likely this case may be associated with the process of the conquest of the Island. Copyright ? 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Universidad Estatal Pen?nsula de Santa Elena
http://www.academia.edu/16775031/The_early_colonial_atlantic_world_New_insights_on_the_African_Diaspora_from_isotopic_and_ancient_DNA_analyses_of_a_multiethnic_15th_17th_century_burial_population_from_the_Canary_Islands_Spain

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