Sharp branding tool for mutilating slaves, American slave trade, 18th century AD

A pointed branding tool on the end of a chain that dates from the 18th century and was captured from a slave ship by slave merchant Sumbu Mobee, part of the original collection at the Mobee Royal Family Slave Relics Museum in Badagry, Nigeria. According to the museum this tool was heated in fire and then used to write the names of the slave merchant on the skin of the slaves. It was also used to pierce the lips of slaves, to prevent slaves who were working in the fields from eating. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Absolute monsters.