“They look a little like Africans, but we can’t say for sure they’re not Spanish yet because we don’t have a full range of understanding what is the cut-off in isotopic ranges for people from Spain and for local people,” he said. For comparison, the team is analyzing bones, nails and, when possible, teeth from Spain and Hispaniola.

DNA analysis is also being done on the skeletons. But after excavation and years of storage, the samples could be heavily contaminated with DNA from other sources.

The researchers note that bones, teeth and DNA yield no clues as to whether someone was a slave or not. “The people on that expedition were reasonably well known by Spanish historians; there were (African) servants of households, but they didn’t bring African slaves,” said Kathleen Deagan, a University of Florida historical archaeologist and author of two books on La Isabela. “There were African sailors on early expeditions.”