The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa

For a short period of time in the early 20th century, indentured labourers from China were imported to work on the South African gold mines. The Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons contains 36 skeletons sourced from a Chinese cemetery of this time period on the site of the old Witwaters...

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Main Authors: Victoria Gibbon, Goran Štrkalj, Maria Paximadis, Paul Ruff, Clem Penny
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academy of Science of South Africa 2010-08-01
Series:South African Journal of Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://sajs.co.za/article/view/10133
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author Victoria Gibbon
Goran Štrkalj
Maria Paximadis
Paul Ruff
Clem Penny
author_facet Victoria Gibbon
Goran Štrkalj
Maria Paximadis
Paul Ruff
Clem Penny
author_sort Victoria Gibbon
collection DOAJ
description For a short period of time in the early 20th century, indentured labourers from China were imported to work on the South African gold mines. The Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons contains 36 skeletons sourced from a Chinese cemetery of this time period on the site of the old Witwatersrand Deep Gold Mine. An earlier morphometric study on this collection recorded a high number of female individuals. However, the general historical records from the early gold mining era conflict with the results of this study, stating that very few Chinese females were among those to arrive in South Africa. In this study, the sex profile of this collection was analysed using molecular sex identification through the amelogenin gene. Results were obtained for 13 (41.93%) specimens, all of which were determined to be male - data that correspond well with the historical records.
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publisher Academy of Science of South Africa
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series South African Journal of Science
spelling doaj-art-6be4669813e04dcebf9380244085b2f32025-08-20T02:25:59ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science1996-74892010-08-011067/84 pages4 pages8335The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South AfricaVictoria Gibbon0Goran Štrkalj1Maria Paximadis2Paul Ruff3Clem Penny4Purdue UniversityMacquarie UniversityAIDS Virus Research Unit, National Institute of Communicable DiseasesUniversity of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the WitwatersrandFor a short period of time in the early 20th century, indentured labourers from China were imported to work on the South African gold mines. The Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons contains 36 skeletons sourced from a Chinese cemetery of this time period on the site of the old Witwatersrand Deep Gold Mine. An earlier morphometric study on this collection recorded a high number of female individuals. However, the general historical records from the early gold mining era conflict with the results of this study, stating that very few Chinese females were among those to arrive in South Africa. In this study, the sex profile of this collection was analysed using molecular sex identification through the amelogenin gene. Results were obtained for 13 (41.93%) specimens, all of which were determined to be male - data that correspond well with the historical records.https://sajs.co.za/article/view/10133amelogeninancient dnagold mineschinese indentured laboursouth africa
spellingShingle Victoria Gibbon
Goran Štrkalj
Maria Paximadis
Paul Ruff
Clem Penny
The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
South African Journal of Science
amelogenin
ancient dna
gold mines
chinese indentured labour
south africa
title The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
title_full The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
title_fullStr The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
title_short The sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa
title_sort sex profile of skeletal remains from a cemetery of chinese indentured labourers in south africa
topic amelogenin
ancient dna
gold mines
chinese indentured labour
south africa
url https://sajs.co.za/article/view/10133
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