18th-century "Negro Burying Ground" identified in NH

DNA testing has confirmed that bodies uncovered at a grave site found at Court and Chestnut streets last fall are of African-American descent.

In October, while digging for a new sewer line, crews unearthed coffins with human remains. A total of 13 coffins were found, but only eight were exhumed. City officials left the others because they would not be impacted by the construction project.

Samples from four were sent to Dr. Bruce Jackson of the Boston University School of Medicine. Jackson is working on the DNA African-American Roots Project, trying to link African-Americans to their ancestral heritage. . .

The DNA science backed up historical research which found the site on city maps dating back to 1705 identified as a "Negro Burying Ground."

The discovery also paves the way for further identification:

Jackson said, through the research, scientists found what is known as a "deletion" of two base sequences in the mitochondrial DNA, which is found in about 95 percent of African-Americans and Caribbean blacks. . .

"It implies that the mutation existed among Africans even two or three centuries ago," he said. "It’s a true marker. What we see in modern African-Americans is a marker that has been passed down. It’s going to make it a lot easier to identify Africans now."

From Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Links to other writeups here.

Posted by David on April 17, 2004 5:19 PM