In the first few months of 1521, the Magellan expedition achieved the remarkable feat of surviving the first known human crossing of the Pacific from Patagonia to the fringe of Maritime Southeast Asia. They were in miserable shape.
The purpose of the voyage, we know today, was not the one that made it famous, that is, the circumnavigation of the globe. Such was a notorious consequence of a voyage meant to reach a less notorious goal: to open for Spain a maritime route into the distant, desired, and lucrative spices of the Moluccas.
This project is part of a much larger exploration that looks at the history of women during the Spanish Conquest and the Age of Discoveries.
In the last decades, the idea of “ancestry” has become one of the most important and popular notions in human population genetics. On this notion stands genetics perspectives on the origins and history of contemporary living populations. However, ancestry has several meanings and outside of genetics, the idea commonly informs practices related to identity, kinship and family history.
Ancestry has become, in the last decades, a central concept in human population genetics. On this notion stands genetic perspectives about the origins and history of contemporary living populations. However, ancestry has several meanings and outside of genetics, the idea commonly informs practices related to identity, kinship, and family history.
