A dietary assessment of colonial Cape Town’s enslaved population

Abstract

There is a growing body of bioarchaeological research on eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial Cape Town, a significant node in the transportation networks of both the Indian and Atlantic oceanic slave trades, attempting to shed light on the lives of enslaved persons. Here, a preliminary archaeological isotopic dietary baseline for the colonial Cape is presented. It is apparent from the data that cattle tended to graze far inland from Cape Town in an arid C3-C4 to purely C4 biome. Sheep/goats grazed close to the settlement or some distance away in C3 to C3-C4 biomes. A qualitative comparison of the baseline data to that of enslaved persons at The Cape suggests that this population did not consume large amounts of marine protein as has been concluded in the past. The archaeological baseline data was utilised, in combination with published modern data, to create a quantitative dietary reconstruction of a subset of this population using a Bayesian multi-source diet mixing model (FRUITS). The reconstruction confirms that the Cape’s enslaved did not consume much marine protein but relied predominantly on terrestrial C3 plant protein.

Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa

“…The δ 13 C VPDB data range from − 13.9‰ to − 1.3‰. The δ 13 C VPDB of most individuals ( 36 /43) fell within a range of − 12.3‰ to − 7.9‰, indicating a C 3 dominant to mixed C 3 –C 4 diet, which is consistent with comparable enamel data from the region 13 , 19 , Three burials (18B, 43B, and 97B) had low δ 13 C values, indicating C 3 dominant diets just outside the established local range (− 13.9‰ to − 13.6‰). However, C 3 values may be influenced by numerous factors including canopy type, water levels 35 , 36 .…”

“…Dietary expectations for the Cape Town region during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries suggested a predominance of C 3 plant consumption, with some inclusion of C 4 plants. A δ 13 C range of analysed dentine from contemporary sites suggested a local dietary range of − 18.8‰ to − 13.5‰ 34 , corresponding with a significantly higher contribution of C 3 foods than C 4 13 . Further, human enamel carbonate data from pre-contact and VOC contemporary Cape Town populations are consistent with that of δ 13 C from dentine, with a δ 13 C VPDB range of − 13.4‰ to − 6.1‰, representing a C 3 to C 3 –C 4 mixed diet 13 , 19 .…”

“…A δ 13 C range of analysed dentine from contemporary sites suggested a local dietary range of − 18.8‰ to − 13.5‰ 34 , corresponding with a significantly higher contribution of C 3 foods than C 4 13 . Further, human enamel carbonate data from pre-contact and VOC contemporary Cape Town populations are consistent with that of δ 13 C from dentine, with a δ 13 C VPDB range of − 13.4‰ to − 6.1‰, representing a C 3 to C 3 –C 4 mixed diet 13 , 19 . Notably, enamel and collagen isotope analyses in prior studies have used δ 13 C values suggestive of C 4 diets as a proxy for non-local origins, alongside dental modifications and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr 13 .…”

“…Conversely, if the burials represented a local population the expectation would be a mixed distribution of sexes and ages, and there would be a notable presence of non-adults due to the high infant mortality rates at the time 10 – 12 . The demographics would include settler communities, globally employed VOC sailors and soldiers, as well as local indigenous communities or communities of enslaved peoples from throughout the Dutch and later British occupations, as observed in other excavated contemporary sites in the region 7 , 13 , 14 . By the mid-1700s, the Dutch colony was already well-established in the Cape 15 .…”

“…Funerary archaeology focusing on burial styles and associated artefacts provide further context to potential differing local versus non-local socio-religious contexts. Combined strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), oxygen ( δ 18 O VPDB ), and carbon ( δ 13 C VPDB ) isotope analyses using tooth enamel informs about childhood geographical origins and dietary preferences by comparing the data to expected local values from the Cape Town region of South Africa 13 , 19 – 21 . As isotope analyses can only confirm non-local origins through deviations of expected ranges, any individuals which fall within expected ranges are assumed local, despite the possibility of alternative interpretations given the wide range of strontium ratios for the Cape region.…”