Thanks to the work of a team of young people from Limón, in partnership with the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and specialists from the National Museum of Denmark, a 300-year-old secret was discovered.
In the heart of Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean, a group of young people from Limón, armed with oxygen tanks, logbooks, and a deep interest in the history of their Afro-descendant culture, has achieved the unthinkable: unearthing from the seabed one of the most extraordinary stories of African liberation in Latin America and its role in the chain of descent of a portion of the country’s population.
And now, after nine years of exhaustive research, the Embajadores del Mar Community Diving Center (located in Cahuita), the social action project “The Sea and Its Benefits” of the University of Costa Rica’s (UCR) Caribbean Campus, and other stakeholders are celebrating with the local, national, and international community an unprecedented scientific, cultural, and human achievement.
A shipwreck, two ships, and an act of rebellion full of humanity
On March 2, 1710, two Danish ships (the Fredericus IV and the Christianus V) ran aground on the shores of what is now Cahuita National Park, in Limón. These vessels, part of the Danish West India and Guinea Company, were transporting approximately 650 enslaved Africans to St. Thomas. However, what seemed like just another dark chapter in the transatlantic slave trade became an epic tale of liberation.
Faced with desperation and hunger due to the lack of provisions on board, sailors and captives mutinied, took control of the ships, and managed to land free on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.
According to archives found in Denmark, Spain, and Costa Rica, as well as oral history preserved by generations of local fishermen, the Fredericus IV was burned and the Christianus V abandoned. Some of the Africans were recaptured, others were taken north by Miskito people, and others integrated into coastal communities.
Citizen Science in Action
Since 2016, the Community Diving Center has set itself a daunting mission: to verify the identity of the mysterious shipwrecks on the seabed of Cahuita National Park. But, lacking underwater archaeologists in the country, they turned to international partners, such as the National Museum of Denmark and the Diving With a Purpose organization, based in Florida, United States. However, the leadership, drive, and strength always came from the community itself, through the Community Diving Center.
With the support of the university initiative “The Sea and Its Benefits,” coordinated by researcher Marianita Harvey Chavarría, dozens of young people were trained in underwater archaeology, history, sustainable tourism, marine conservation, and cultural rescue.
“It was a commitment to knowledge, empowerment, and historical justice. This project has been a tool through which to connect generations and rescue the voices of our submerged past,” Harvey emphasized.
The evidence found at the bottom of the sea
The evidence is as irrefutable as it is moving. According to the results presented by archaeologist David John Gregory (scientifically endorsed by the National Museum of Denmark), during the investigations carried out on the beach of Cahuita National Park, specifically at the site known as Los Ladrillos, a mountain of Danish bricks was found on the burned remains of the Fredericus IV, while at the site called Las Anclas y Cañones lies the scattered and fragmented evidence of Christianus V.
In these investigations, based on underwater archaeology and subsequent sample analysis, cutting-edge techniques were applied, such as:
Magnetic susceptibility and thermoluminescence analysis of the bricks identified their origin in Danish factories.
Morphological and typological analysis of clay pipes, dating from between 1690 and 1710.
Dendrochronology of oak samples, which placed their felling between 1690 and 1695 in the western Baltic Sea.
Underwater photogrammetry revealed hull structures hidden beneath the sediment.
An ancient slave handle, found in 1985, was reexamined as evidence of human trade on board.
Every fragment of wood, every brick, and every object found served to scientifically reconstruct a history that was already alive in the oral memory of the inhabitants of the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica.
For those who have been part of this process, the experience has transformed their lives. “Before, we thought they were Spanish ships, but now we know they were Danish. This work helped me discover who I am and what I want to do. I want to continue to professionalize myself and attract tourism to share this story,” said Aaron Mora Stebber, a member of the Community Diving Center.
“Now we can pass this knowledge on to current and future generations. Being at the sites of the events and telling what happened is a source of pride. This is reconnecting with our roots,” added Kevin Rodríguez Brown, who is also part of the Community Diving Center.
For her part, the president of the Center, Maraya Jiménez Taysigue, expressed that the impact of the study’s results on local knowledge is profound. “This changes the history of the southern Caribbean region of Limón; but the best of all is that it was our community and our youth who led this research, which reconstructed what we know about our roots,” Maraya explained.
Renewing the History of a Living Community
The “Sea and its Benefits” project and the Community Diving Center have jointly developed exhibitions, workshops, educational diving courses, and various cultural activities in Cahuita, Puerto Viejo, and Manzanillo. The objective of this synergy is clear: to educate, empower, and preserve.
“This discovery is part of the untold story of African human trafficking. Of 1,500 shipwrecks, only five have been identified as slave ships, and these two, here in Costa Rica, are the first found in the UN-mandated decade of African descent. It is a step toward reparation, justice, and recognition of the memory of thousands of slaves,” said María Suárez Toro, journalist, educator, activist, and one of the main promoters of this project from the Community Diving Center, of which she is a member.
These young divers from Cahuita not only found the remains of two lost ships, they also discovered a forgotten part of their own history and the memory of an entire country.
