In 2008, offshore diamond mining on the Namibian coastline uncovered the remains of the Portuguese vessel Bom Jesus, which wrecked off the coast of Namibia in 1533 AD.  The ship carried large quantities of valuable cargo, including copper ingots, gold coins, and 100 tusks of elephant ivory. Using a combination of stable isotope and ancient DNA analyses with archival and archaeological records, we have been able to source the elephant ivory cargo to multiple habitats in West Africa.  The results of these analyses reveal patterns of ivory acquisition and circulation during the formative stages of maritime trade that linked Europe, Africa, and Asia.

This is a live Q&A session based on the lecture given by Dr Ashely Coutu (Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford), hosted by the African Archaeology Group.This lecture is available online. If you would like to have the link to this lecture and/or register for this Q&A session, please send an e-mail to africanarchaeology.cambridge@gmail.com