The paddle wheel steamboat, often called “La Unión,” was found by archaeologists within the Gulf of Mexico two nautical miles from Sisal in 2017. But it surely took three years of analysis to verify that it was a Mayan slave ship.
La Unión illegally captured and transported about 25 to 30 Mayans month-to-month to Cuba, the place they had been pressured to work in sugarcane fields between 1855 and 1861. This was throughout the rebel often called the Caste Battle, based on INAH.
The ship sunk on September 19, 1861 whereas en path to Cuba, proving that slavery continued regardless of having been abolished in Mexico in 1829 and a decree issued banning the pressured extraction of Mayan individuals that very same yr.
“For researchers … the invention is extremely related,” INAH mentioned within the launch. “Past the problem in figuring out a wreck by title, it additionally speaks to an ominous previous for Mexico that needs to be acknowledged and studied when it comes to its context and time.”
Archaeologists confirmed the id of the ship from its boilers, which exploded and induced the boat to catch fireplace, in addition to the picket hulled aspect wheeler which had been preserved. Additionally they discovered artifacts, together with fragments of glass from bottles, ceramics, and eight brass cutlery utilized by first-class passengers on board.
The accident killed half of the 80 crew members and 60 passengers on board. It’s unclear how lots of the useless included Mayan slaves, as they had been listed as cargo and merchandise, not passengers.
