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Bio-banking in research elicits numerous ethical issues related to informed consent, privacy and identifiability of samples, return of results, incidental findings, international data exchange, ownership of samples, and benefit sharing etc. In low and middle income (LMICs) countries the challenge of inadequate guidelines and regulations on the proper conduct of research compounds the ethical issues. In addition, failure to pay attention to underlying indigenous worldviews that ought to inform issues, practices and policies in Africa may exacerbate the situation. In this paper we discuss how the African context presents unique and outstanding cultural thought systems regarding the human body and biological materials that can be put into perspective in bio-bank research. We give the example of African ontology of nature presented by John Samwel Mbiti as foundational in adding value to the discourse about enhancing relevance of bio-bank research in the African context. We underline that cultural rites of passage performed on the human body in majority of communities in Africa elicit quintessential perspective on beliefs about handling of human body and human biological tissues. We conclude that acknowledgement and inclusion of African indigenous worldviews regarding the human body is essential in influencing best practices in biobank research in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the atypical wear observed on the anterior teeth of an enslaved African adult female (age‐at‐death: 47.62 ± 3.36 years), exhumed from Valle da Gafaria, Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries). All teeth of this individual (n = 31) were macroscopically observed to score dental wear and caries. A more accentuated wear was observed on the lingual surface of the maxillary anterior teeth, with dentine exposure until the cement‐enamel junction. Although many individuals of this osteoarchaeological assemblage present intentional dental modifications, the location and characteristics of these wear facets are not compatible with such cultural practices. Interdental attrition caused by overbite was also excluded due to the inexistence of corresponding lingual or labial wear on any lower teeth. Also, the relatively unpolished appearance of the wear facets does not favor the hypothesis of perimolysis due to regurgitation. Instead, the observed wear pattern is consistent with lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth (LSAMAT). Regarding the aetiology, in this particular case, two possible causes are suggested: extra‐masticatory behaviors and/or consumption of abrasive carbohydrates, namely, a starchy plant. Although this individual presents several carious lesions, which favor the hypothesis of a carbohydrate‐rich diet, these processes can act simultaneously. Therefore, it would be unwise to favor one aetiological factor over the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I address a range of arguments put forward by Kwame Gyekye (1992) and Bernard Matolino (2014) denying Menkiti's twin propositions that persons differ ontologically from human beings and that human attitudes, behaviours and practices constitute persons in social reality. They argue that his account of "maximal" persons, rooted in African traditional thought‐worlds, conflates issues and ultimately involve him in a category mistake. I argue that their arguments do not succeed, and that Menkiti's view is not in any predicament because of them. Then, I draw on John Searle's account of social ontology to clarify the sense in which attitudes, behaviours and practices are constituents of persons. Thus, I characterise persons as social entities belonging in a social ontology. Finally, I argue that realism regarding persons is not undermined by the threat of conventionalism lurking behind the view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]