Branding a human being was a powerful symbol of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Along with the collar, chain and whip, branding remains a potent emblem of the centuries-long trauma experienced by millions of Africans taken from that continent.
This project represents direct engagement with evidence of branding to produce a traditional monograph, an edited volume and a visual, searchable database permitting both scholars and the general public to understand the extent of this injustice. Despite the wealth of visual evidence of branding, insufficient effort has been made to produce a complete catalogue of the people and corporations who owned the brands throughout the European nations and slave societies of the Americas. Such connections would offer concrete evidence of companies, families and individuals whose personal marks were branded onto other humans as proof of ownership.
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Violence in Iron and Silver
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Sex: W
Age: 18
Burned, Pitted/Pockmarked, Disease Indicator
Sex: W
Age: 32
Scarification, Dented
Sex: W
Age: 23
Dented
Sex: W
Age: 15
Unspecified Scars
Sex: W
Age: 14
Unspecified Scars
Sex: Woman
Age: 15
Lumpification, Scarification
Sex: W
Age: 15
Dented, Black Marks
Sex: W
Age: 14
Dented, Unspecified Scars
Sex: W
Age: 14
Unspecified Scars
Sex: Woman
Age: 14
Complexion Yellowish, Pitted/Pockmarked, Dented
Sex: W
Age: 14
Unspecified Mark
Sex: W
Age: 20
Burned, Skeletal Abnormalities
Sex: W
Age: 16
Tattoo, Unspecified Mark
Sex: Girls
Age: 13
Tattoo, Scarification, Pitted/Pockmarked, Disease Indicator
Sex: G
Age: 12
Scarification
Sex: G
Age: 8
Dented