By combining genetic ancestry reports with existing historical documentation, The New York Times reports, 23andMe and a team of historians were able to piece together new discoveries about the transatlantic slave trade.
During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, some 12.5 million African people were abducted from their homes — though only 10.7 million survived the horrific journey to be sold into slavery in the Americas. According to the Times, the new analysis is giving researchers a more complete understanding of the victims’ erased history, such as learning that people were kidnapped from more regions of Africa than previously thought.
For instance, the genetic study, which was published Thursday in The American Journal of Human Genetics, revealed that the slave trade was far more active in Nigeria than previously thought.
