Question

Unearthing the Slave Trade: What makes bioarchaeology significant to our understanding of history? What did the film attempt to defamiliarize about slavery in the United States? What does the evidence tell us about African cultures that were part of the slave trade?

Answer 1

Bioarchaeology offers a detailed understanding of past populations, particularly slaves, by analyzing human remains, challenging preconceived notions of slavery and African cultures.

Step-by-step explanation:

Bioarchaeology is significant to our understanding of history because it provides a direct insight into the lives of past populations, going beyond what is written or may have never been recorded. It studies human skeletal remains to understand various aspects of ancient civilizations, such as demography, diet, health, and social practices. This field is crucial in bringing to light the unrecorded human experiences, particularly of those who were generally voiceless in historical documents, such as slaves.

The film attempts to defamiliarize the concept of slavery in the United States by illustrating that it was not a primitive or archaic system but rather was central to the creation of the modern Western world, with a global capitalist system that emerged out of the exploitation of African and African-American slaves. It underscores the fact that slaves resisted and created new cultures, despite the dehumanizing conditions they endured. The evidence tells us that African cultures involved in the slave trade were technologically, intellectually, and economically advanced long before Europeans arrived, countering the myths of Africa as 'The Dark Continent'.