a powerful king
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King Ghezo built a palace in honor of his brother.
This new study, framed in the area of paleoproteomics, the study of protein traces left in contexts archaeological. The biochemist Jean Armengayd explained that “this discovery “It is important because it provides concrete evidence of historical rituals and practices.”
The bloody legend says that the palace complex of Abomey was built in the 19th century by King Ghezo, in honour of his brother Adandozan. During its construction – the story goes – a cruel ritual was carried out that seems to belong to a very distant past: the human sacrifice of 41 people, since that is a number considered sacred in their culture.
Ghezo, who was a powerful king in his land between 1818 and 1858, who fought against the Oyo empire and ended the annual slave tribute that his kingdom had to pay. In his kingdom the voodoo religion was practiced, in which animal sacrifices are not uncommon.
The discovery that revealed a cruel practice
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The discovery confirmed a cruel legend.
The new study used a technique called tandem mass spectrometry to target proteins found in the walls of the grave, which consists of two linked huts. The result showed the presence of thousands of microorganisms, plus chicken blood and human blood.
“Since proteins are more stable molecules compared to DNA, paleoproteomics can provide extensive information about the organisms that produced these proteins in ancient times,” Armengaud said.
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Legend has it that human blood had been mixed with red oil to coat the walls of the grave, And the new study seems to confirm this. Despite the new data, it is still impossible to determine how many people’s blood was used.
