16th-Century African Skeletons Found in Mexico City

The skeletons of three 16th-century African slaves recovered from a mass grave in Mexico City are shedding new light on the early colonial-era slave trade.

The remains were found in a grave on the grounds of the Hospital Real de San José de Los Naturales, a hospital from the early period of Spanish colonial rule.

“The three individuals in the study first caught the attention of the team with their distinct dental modifications, a filing of the upper front teeth consistent with cultural practices recorded for African slaves which can still be observed in some groups living in western Africa today,” the researchers explain in a statement.