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about 200 years ago , human blood is said to have been incorporated into a ceremonial tomb built within a imperial palace complex in what is now Benin , accord to legend . Now , an investigating into the protein find within the tomb ’s wall divulge evidence that the fable is true .
According to a new study , the tomb at Abomey , once the capital of the West African kingdom of Dahomey , contains proteins that could have come only from human profligate , confirming the site ’s grim history .
Modern Benin is a center of the original African religion of voodoo or vodun, which featured rituals with animal sacrifices.
It ’s one of the first fourth dimension such a discovery has been made through " paleoproteomics , " the study of trace proteins leave behind in archaeologic contexts .
" This find is important , as it provides concrete grounds of historical ritual and practices , " biochemistJean Armengaud , an expert on ancient proteins at France ’s Alternative vigor and Atomic Energy Commission , told Live Science .
Armengaud is the aged author of the new work , which was published May 29 in the journalProteomics . He and his colleagues canvas samples taken at the tomb between 2018 and 2022 , during excavations at the site by archaeologist from France and Benin .
The wall of the tomb at the royal palaces complex at Abomey, which was built in the 19th century by King Ghezo of Dahomey.
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According to local lore , the tomb within theAbomey castle complex — built in the nineteenth century by King Ghezo of Dahomey , in honour of his buddy King Adandozan — used poultice that included the blood of 41 human sacrifice ; 41 was considered a sacred identification number , the source wrote in the study .
Dahomey king
Ghezo , who ruled from 1818 until 1858 , excellently led several military expeditions against the region ’s powerful Yoruba state , or Oyo Empire , and thereby ended the Dahomey kingdom ’s yearly tribute of slaves .
He was considered a herculean ruler and reportedly showcased the death of his foes to guarantee his reign . According to historical accounts , the path to his hut was paved with the skulls and jawbones of defeated enemy , and one of his crapper suffer on the skull of four enemy leaders .
Dahomey , now ring Benin after the nearby Bight ( or Bay ) of Benin , is a center of the originalAfrican Vodun or Vodou religionthat was developed in the Caribbean region . Traditional Vodun often features sacrifices of animal blood .
King Ghezo of Dahomey was said to be a powerful and warlike ruler who cemented his reign with the symbolism of death.
Distinctive proteins
The researchers applied a technique calledtandem mass spectrometry — to proteins contained in sample of the wall of the grave , which consist of two round huts joined together . The method break off down ion into fragment to reveal their chemical bodily structure .
Their survey yielded more than 10,000 matches in a database of protein that identify the presence of G of microorganisms , as well as both human and chicken blood .
" Since proteins are more static molecules compare to DNA , paleoproteomics can render extensive information about the organisms that produced these proteins in ancient times , " Armengaud enunciate .
The results show clearly that human ancestry was one of the core in the wall — in line with historical accounts , never verified until now , that claim stemma from human sacrifices was mix with " red fossil oil " and sacred water to make the plaster .
In this case , Armengaud said , the paleoproteomic report was preferable to a paleogenomic study with ancient DNA , which might detect genic material from individual , such as the people who built the structure , without determining how they were take .
But paleoproteomics and paleogenomics can also complement each other . Armengaud trust DNA sequence of samples from the Abomey grave can distinguish the number of sacrificial victims and their origins , thereby provide a more detailed historical setting .
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Matthew Collins , an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge who was n’t involve in the former sketch , told Live Science that the research showed how proteomics could be applied in complex and intriguing situations .
" If you were using DNA , then you could distinguish that certain species were present — but what you could n’t see is the character of tissue paper that were necessitate , " he said . " But here you ’ve got grounds of tissue proteins associate with human blood . "
