MtDNA origins of an enslaved labor force from the 18th century Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground in colonial Albany, NY: Africans, Native Americans, and Malagasy? Esther J. Lee a, * , Lisa M. Anderson b , Vanessa Dale b , D. Andrew Merriwether a a Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University, PO Box 6000 Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA b Division of Research and Collections, New York State Museum, 3122 Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230, USA article info Article history: Received 12 June 2009 Received in revised form 31 August 2009 Accepted 2 September 2009 Keywords: African American Native American DNA Colonial New York Ancient DNA abstract A burial ground located in the Town of Colonie, NY along the Hudson River revealed fourteen individuals dated from the 17th through the early 19th centuries. Bioarchaeological analysis suggested some of these individuals were of African ancestry who had worked and died on the property owned by the prominent Schuyler family. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis was carried out on skeletal remains of seven adults using restriction fragment length polymorphism typing and direct sequencing of the control region to infer their origins and relatedness. Results show that none of the individuals were maternally related, with four individuals identified as African haplogroup L, one identified as Native American haplogroup X, and two identified as haplogroup M and M7. Individuals of African ancestry correlate with published mtDNA data on African Americans and their geographical origins corroborate with the various exit points during the African slave trade to New York State. Individuals identified as haplogroup M7 and M resemble lineages found in Madagascar. Historical documents suggest several hundred people were imported from Madagascar through illegal trading to New York by the end of the 17th century. This study highlights the diverse origins of the enslaved labor force in colonial New York and contributes to our understanding of African American history in the northeast. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction An unmarked cemetery was discovered during a sewer construction in 2005 in the Town of Colonie, NY located on the west side of the Hudson River about four miles north of Albany (Fig. 1). Archaeologists from Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc. (HAA) evaluated the site and identified thirteen historic graves that had been exposed by the construction trench (Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc., 2007). Of the thirteen exposed graves, twelve within the area directly impacted by construction were excavated. The remains of a child outside the sewer trench were also recovered from the disturbed soil, probably impacted during the initial stages of construction. The remains of one other individual were recov- ered from the site in 1998 during a water main installation. Based on the types of nails and pins used for the wooden coffins and burial shrouds, the burial was dated to around the 1700s or early 1800s. Deed research indicated this was part of a large estate owned by the prominent Schuyler family who had purchased land on the floodplain, or ‘‘flats’’, along the Hudson River in 1672 and continued to own portions into the 1900s. While located within the historic boundaries of the Schuyler estate, the burial was not likely used by the family themselves, whose own plot was located else- where. Thus, it was suggested that this burial ground may have been used by those who died on the property, including slaves, indentured servants, tenant farmers, soldiers, and Native Americans. Bioarchaeological analysis identified seven individuals as adults among the fourteen burials. Six of them were females ranging from 25 years old to over 50 years old and one was a male 40–50 years old. The other seven remains were identified as sub-adults, two children and five infants under the age of one. Examination of cranial morphology and standard morphometric analysis suggested four women were of African ancestry while others were inconclu- sive. All adults exhibited mild but well-healed cases of periostitis and were affected by osteoarthritis. Individuals also showed well- developed musculoskeletal stress markers. Overall, skeletal evidence indicated that these individuals carried out hard work that had continued until their death. This reinforced the suggestion that these individuals had worked on the Flatts. In order to further examine the possibility that these individuals were of African ancestry, we carried out mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis on seven adult individuals from the burial ground which includes burials 3,7,9,12,13,15 and the burial recovered in 1998. Fig. 2 illustrates the burials at Schuyler Flatts with each * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 607 777 6707; fax: þ1 607 777 2477. E-mail address: elee11@binghamton.edu (E.J. Lee). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas 0305-4403/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.008 Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 2805–2810