Cape Verde Wrecks Survey

A Smithsonian-led archaeological program documenting shipwrecks in the waters of Cape Verde, an Atlantic archipelago that sat on Portuguese trade and slaving routes from the late 15th century. The Slave Wrecks Project, a partnership of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture with George Washington University and others, investigated the Portuguese slave ship Sao Jose Paquete de Africa, lost in 1794, recovered with iron ballast and shackles. The work ties wreck sites to the documented Atlantic slave trade.