America's Slave last ship is in Remarkable State of Preservation

America's Slave last ship is in Remarkable State of Preservation 

According to archaeologists studying the wreck of the Clotilda, an outlaw slave ship located in 2019, its hold contains many artifacts in good condition, barrels filled with food, and even human DNA.

The Clotilda slipway served as a hellish dungeon for 110 enslaved Africans brought back to Alabama in 1860, more than 50 years after the importation of new slaves there was banned. The captain set his schooner on fire to cover his tracks, but the boat's hull mostly survived the fire.

In 2019, when the wreck of the Clotilda was identified for good in the troubled waters of Mobile, Joycelyn Davis was overjoyed. One hundred and sixty years of legends about America's last slave ship finally took shape.

The one who grew up in Africatown, near the city of Mobile, Alabama, had always had faith in the stories told to her about the origin of her community. It was said that a wealthy white businessman had bet he could enslave Africans and bring them back to Mobile when the importation of new slaves had been banned. It was also said that the captain of the Clotilda, William Foster, had returned from Africa in 1860 with 110 slaves on board, including Charlie Lewis, ancestor of Joycelyn and co-founder of Africatown. It was said that Foster had tried to erase all traces of his crime by burning and scuttling the Clotilda. And then the rumor said that the wreckage of the ship was lying there, in the opacity of the Mobile river.

"The ship itself doesn't make it any more real to me," she says. The simple fact of knowing that there are documents testifying to the existence of my ancestors, the books that were written, that was enough for me. But the boat was the icing on the cake.

Archaeologists excavating the wreckage recovered nails, spikes and pitons used to hold the ship's beams and planks. Forged from iron, these mountings were commonplace on schooners built in the mid-19th Century.

And recent archaeological discoveries make this already exceptional wreck even rarer.

Since the Clotilda was identified, researchers have been studying the wreck and its history. Thanks to their work, the wreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). They also revealed that the ship has stood the test of time much better than previously thought. La Clotilda is therefore not only the last of the American slave ships but also the best preserved.

"It is the most intact slave ship of which we have the trace in all the archaeological archives", assures Jim Delgado, archaeologist-diver in charge of research on the Clotilda for the company SEARCH, Inc. According to him, up to two third of the wooden structure of the ship would have survived, and more particularly certain bulkheads and certain modifications which made this merchant schooner a slave ship.

The wreckage lies in troubled waters, and visibility is so poor that archaeologists had to use sonar to determine its condition and dimensions.

“There is not only direct and physical evidence of the boat and its use but also of the modifications made by Foster and his crew to make it a slave ship, he testifies. We can give the size of the part where the captives were held and tell you that it was a serious and emotional moment for the team.

Due to the murky waters of the river, it is nearly impossible to get a clear picture of the wreckage. So the researchers used sonar to pierce the darkness.

“We are talking about a wreck lying in a river where visibility for a diver is only a few centimeters, Jim Delgado tells us. For us, using sonar was like turning on the light. 

The researchers were also able to deepen their knowledge of the ebb and flow of the silt covering certain parts of the wreck.

Small piece of oak attached to an iron bolt that was found on the wreck bears the scars of the fire that ravaged certain parts of the boat. According to archaeologists, the wreckage may be too fragile to be raised. But it is possible to build a monument similar to the floating memorial of the USS Arizona, in Pearl Harbor.

“We now know that the mud on the site moves well. Sometimes it withdraws, sometimes it hangs on,” explains Jim Delgado, who compares this movement to that of a tide. “Sometimes things get exposed when they never were, and then they get covered up again.

According to him, "limited and targeted" excavations are planned on the wreckage in March. The hold of the ship may still contain old provisions (barrels containing water, pork, beef, rice, rum, molasses, flour and bread). It is not impossible either that we discover human DNA, and more particularly traces of bodily fluids or excrement between the planks of the boat.

The excavations that will be carried out will consist of taking samples of wood, examining the aquatic species colonizing the wreck, and trying to find out what can be done to stop the deterioration of the site. The information that will be drawn from it will be used to determine an action plan for the Clotilda, and to know whether or not it is possible to raise it.

Stacye Hathorn, a state archaeologist commissioned by the Alabama Historical Commission, has her doubts.

“The problem is that when you dig into something, you destroy the context, while the context tells the story,” she warns. You have to be very careful to gather as much information as possible, because you only have one chance. You don't preserve things by destroying them. 

A better option might be to leave the wreckage where it is and build a memorial next to it, similar to what was done for the USS  Arizona at Pearl Harbor. In any case, archaeologists and state-mandated officials will work closely with the community of the Clotilda 's descendants so that the best trajectory emerges. A new museum, the Heritage House in Africatown, is due to open next summer.

For Joycelyn Davis, every detail unearthed by archaeologists is a small miracle. It is always an opportunity to give an international echo to the history of its community.

“It's incredible,” she enthuses. You wouldn't have made me believe ten or fifteen years ago that all of this would happen, because it was a myth – but it was all documented.