Archaeology of Whaling

This study examines bead assemblages from Basque sites north of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and from Native burials south of the Gulf in French Acadia, with a view to determining which varieties may be
ascribed to these two cultural groups. It also examines sixteenth-century Saint Lawrence Valley bead assemblages in order to discover which types are found here, and to compare them with Basque,Acadian, and Great Lakes assemblages in order to learn whether European materials followed the valley in the sixteenth century.The explicit aims of this paper are 1) to extend and refine the sixteenth-century bead typology around the Gulf and in the Saint Lawrence lowlands, 2) to understand the respective roles of the Basques and the French in trade with Natives, and 3) to draw conclusions regarding possible trade routes to the lower Great Lakes during this period.

Archaeological research focused on nineteenth-century sealers-whalers occupation in the South Shetland Islands has been developed for the last three decades, and the conservation and management of archaeological sites has become a matter of concern for the scientific teams involved. To date more than 30 of these sites have been found and marked along the coasts of the Islands. Some of these have been excavated and studied in more detail providing information about not only sealer’s everyday experiences in land but also the relationship of sealing and whaling to global capitalism expansion. 
Sealing activities were present in the South Shetland Islands since their discovery during the entire nineteenth century. They contributed to the incorporation of uncharted Antarctic places, and the experiences of the groups of sealers left on shore for their duties were the first of their kind in Antarctica. The significance of those expeditions has low visibility in Antarctic Narratives. The nineteenth century material remains of these sealers represent a unique source of evidence for the study of the early stage of human exploration and occupation of Antarctica. Site conservation has not yet been undertaken in the context of the Antarctic Treaty System.
One of the main goals of this paper is to show the analytical power that material culture studies have for understanding the sealers presence in the history of Antarctica. This paper poses the general question: What has the study of material things meant to our knowledge about the historical sealing industry in Antarctica? As a starting point, sealers presence in Antarctica is understood in the particular historical context of the expansion of the modern capitalist world. The sealers presence in the islands represents the process of exploration and of incorporation of an unknown and remote place. From this perspective, I am interested in learning about the particularities of this process by posing specific questions that help characterize the strategies used by sealers in the South Shetland Islands during the nineteenth century.
This paper presents a summary and meta-analysis of data produced during three decades of archaeological research on the topic, addressing specific questions regarding the decisions involved in the use of space, the selection of economic activities developed, the organization of the activities ashore, and possible temporal changes in these choices. More specifically, this paper examines whether the sealer strategies were expansive or focalized in terms of use of space, opportunistic or specialized in terms of resources exploited, flexible or rigid in terms of organization, and to what degree they changed along time during the nineteenth century. Data to answer these questions was gathered through a deep review of all the information about sealers sites in the South Shetland Islands published so far, including publications from our own team as well as other groups.

On the night of September 20,1615, the eve of the feast of St. Matthew, an expedition of Basque whalers lost their ships in a fjord near Trekyllisvik, Iceland, during a terrible storm. This led to a series of events that culminated in their October massacre at the hands of the islanders.The Basque mariners' bodies, dismembered, would not be buried. However, not all the Icelanders saw the massacre with good eyes. One of them, Jon Gudmundsson, better known as Jon laerdi (1574-1658) or "the wise man", wrote an essay on those events in defense of the victims titled "Sonn frasaga" (The true story). Four hundred years later, on April 20,2015, an international conference investigated various aspects of this tragic episode of the history of Iceland and the Basque Country. The academic meeting took place at the National Library of Iceland with the participation of experts from all over the world. The program, commemorating the fourth centenary of the massacre of Basque whalers in Iceland, was sponsored by the Govrenment of Gipuskoa and the Government of Iceland and organized by the Etxepare Institute, the Basque-Finnish Association, the Center for Basque Studies of the University of Nevada, Reno and the Barandiaran Chair of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Whaling was a central aspect of Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht and Makah culture on the northwest coast of North America. Not only was it economically important, it was vital to chiefly prestige. Art and ceremonial life were dominated by themes related to whaling. Thunderbird, the great supernatural whaler, was the source of hereditary prerogatives held by chiefs, including names, dances, regalia and rights to display images of thunderbird and whale. This paper argues that human observations of predatory behaviour by orcas (or killer whales) led to these animals also being perceived as non-human whalers from which chiefly prerogatives could be obtained. Wolves, the main figures in Nuu-chah-nulth ceremonial life, had the power to transform into orcas, explaining their frequent presence in the art with thunderbirds and whales. This paper presents archaeological evidence for orca in the context of whaling and offers interpretations based on the extensive ethnographic and oral historical records. It also places perceptions of animals, the role of the hunter’s wife and beliefs about orca in a broader context involving hunting societies in northwestern North America.

For a century, archaeologists have puzzled over the enigma of successful whaling unfolding with no predecessors prior to the last two millennia. The emergence of social complexity is linked with the appearance of the Old Bering Sea (OBS) aesthetic engraved on walrus ivory implements found in sites with large cemeteries and thick middens. Significantly, many OBS sites co-occur with major haulout locations for Pacific walrus, whose procurement engendered relationships that, along with seafaring or hunting technology, were the pivotal drivers that fostered whaling. Our revision of extant 14 C assays to correct for marine carbon produces a younger 'Low' chronology placing the OBS florescence between AD 650-1250, with its earliest phase Okvik and allied Ipiutak communities from AD 300 to 600. The lithic technology of OBS is distinctive in its notched bifaces with affinities to 3000-year-old Chukchi Archaic assemblages. Later influences on OBS development include Ipiutak lithic technology and suggest migration, and either adversarial, or trading relationships with Alaska. The acquisition of rare commodities (driftwood, iron and obsidian) contributed to differential success and resulted in inequality recorded in burials.

"In Australia (and New Zealand) the earliest contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples was commonly between Europeans pursuing a whale fishery and the local Indigenous populations. The arrival of the whalers often represented first contact - their interactions and exchanges made the beach a dangerous and contested ground - of beginnings and endings, of comings and goings.

This book chapter uses historical and archaeological evidence from whaling research in Canada, New Zealand and Australia to argue that there are two models of European whaler activity - the whaler/farmer model and the seasonal model. It argues that the seasonal model common in southern Australia - where whaling was a seasonal, hunting enterprise, and the uses that the two groups had for the whale, resulted in some examples of collaborative interactions as well as the more common conflict between the two groups."

Whalebone has been recovered from many archaeological sites in Atlantic Scotland. Through an examination of material excavated from the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) this paper explores the methods by which whales and whalebone were procured. Using historical and ethnographic data the possibility that cetaceans were naturally stranded or actively hunted is considered, and for the latter the methods of capture are discussed. The ways in which whale carcasses were utilized: as meat, blubber, skins, artefacts and as an architectural material, is examined through the analysis of archaeozoological material. Using these data the value of whales and whale bone in the islands can be determined. The potential for further study is discussed in the light of the growing volume of material available for study and advances in scientific techniques such as DNA analysis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recent scholarship has revealed that colonial entanglements starting in the early seventeenth century forced New England’s indigenous polities to renegotiate their modes of subsistence in order to maintain their group and individual identities. This paper explores the means by which one particular group shifted their economic strategies to meet new challenges presented them by early encounters with Dutch and English settlers. The Pequots, who in the 1620s dominated much of southern New England, were one of the native groups most significantly affected by the European settlement of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. This paper describes and interprets the avenues by which the Pequots mitigated their shrinking land base by broadening their economic strategies and participating in markets both novel and global. An emphasis is placed on the role played by Pequots in the growth and maintenance of regional whaling economies.

This study ofthe technology ofthe whaling industry in 19th century Australia originated as a part ofa wider continuing research project into whaling in southern NS. W. It is necessary to be aware of the technology and the artifacts involved in order to understand the surviving artifacts of the industry, both in a museum and an archaeological context, to understand the technology of the sites being studied, and to understand the economic implications of the industry both locally and in the colony as a whole. Because shore-based and ship-based whaling were very closely linked in the 19th century, both in their commercial operation and in their technology, it is necessary to look at these two aspects of the industry in order to arrive at an overview of whaling techniques and artifacts. The fQllowing paper by Michael Pearson, Historian in the NS. W. National Parks and Wildlife Service, looks at this technology, its sources, and the hardware associated with it.

For most indigenous people of the Arctic the first contact with European and American explorers, traders and whalers was a maritime affair. First greetings and trade goods between Native inhabitants and non-native newcomers were often passed between the skin boats and the decks of ships. Although dates of this contact differ from one Arctic nation to another, the results were often the same. Carrying new technology, resources and culture, European and American shipping and ships themselves significantly altered both the social and physical landscapes of the Arctic.
At the same time, once inserted into the indigenous landscapes, the ships also acquired new meanings and uses, especially after their abandonment or wrecking. Ships were seen as both similar and different to the Native boats. Just like skin boats they were perceived as animated objects or beings with their own needs, including deposition of their “remains.”  In the holistic indigenous worldview this deposition was both functional and ritualistic, which is reflected in how the ship wreckage was used. Using the site of the 1871 Chukchi Sea maritime whaling disaster as a case study this presentation discusses the impact of a large shipwreck event on an Arctic  community and the perception of the Euro-American ship as it is reflected in the use of wreckage remains. 
In early September of 1871, a fleet of 32 whaling ships became trapped and abandoned between the icepack and the Chukchi Sea coast near Point Franklin, Alaska. All but one were crushed by the ice, providing local Inupiat communities with a wealth of resources, which in turn affected the settlement distribution, house architecture and even changes in subsistence technology. Shipwreck remains are still present and prominent in the local landscape. The paper draws on the results of three archaeological seasons (2005, 2007 and 2008), as well as interviews with local elders and traditional Arctic boat lore.

This project conducted extensive archival research and a preliminary pre-disturbance survey of the archaeological site of the 19th century shore-based whaling station at Gaultois and the 20th century Norwegian whaling station at Balaena in Hermitage Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Gaultois site is located on Whale (Lamy) Island at the entrance to Gaultois Harbour, approximately 150 m north-east of the public wharf at Gaultois township. Preliminary archival research indicated that this was a successful and long-lasting operation that is potentially directly comparable with whaling operations in the Australian colonies that operated over a similar time period and fits neatly into the comparative phase of the AWSANZ (Archaeology of Whaling in Southern Australia and New Zealand) project.

Ballester, B. 2018 La caza de cetáceos en la costa del desierto de atacama: relatos escritos, pinturas rupestres, artefactos y restos óseos. En Baleeiros do Sul II, antropología e história da indústria baleeira nas costas Sul-americanas, editado por W. Castellucci y D. Quiroz, pp. 59-84. Editora da Universidade do Estado da Bahia EDUNEB, Salvador.

Between 2 and 13 February 2010, Flinders University Maritime Archaeology Program (MAP) conducted both terrestrial and maritime surveys of selected areas within Sceale Bay and Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The 2010 was conducted as a follow-up on the 2009 remote sensing survey that investigated the locations of two whaling vessels, Elizabeth Rebecca and Arachne, which are believed to have been lost in the area in the period 1844 to 1848. The 2010 fieldwork consisted of terrestrial remote sensing, pedestrian surveys, underwater circle searches and side scan sonar searches.

This paper will look to reconstruct Bermuda's whaling past and track the depletion of humpback, sperm, and right whale populations.1 Previous work has analysed the practice of whaling, but little has been done to look at the island's environmental history and marine animals.2 This study of whale population was inspired by Marah Hardt's reconstruction of Jamaica's reef fish levels using a combination of historical, archaeological, and biological research.3 Jackson, et al, published a seminal article in 2001 calling for similar archaeological and historical research in the face of climate change. Since then, more studies have been published (as illustrated in the bibliography) and several important books have echoed the same call and Bermuda should be added to the discussion.

La Antártida suele ser presentada como uno de los territorios más misteriosos y desconocidos de la tierra. Sus condiciones extremas así como su localización en los confines del planeta han mantenido alejado al ser humano hasta fines del siglo XVIII o comienzos del XIX. Cómo dudar entonces, que como señala la “historia oficial”, la Antártida sólo pueda haber sido descubierta y explorada por héroes o grandes hombres. Evidentemente, se trata de una historia que no deja espacio para las personas comunes. Por el contrario, nuestra investigación en arqueología y cultura material busca contribuir a la construcción de una historia alternativa sobre el proceso temprano de ocupación y explotación de la Antártida. Surgieron así nuevos protagonistas, los grupos foqueros y loberos que explotaban los recursos marinos de las Shetland del Sur para abastecer un mercado capitalista en franca expansión. ¿Cómo era su vida en el lugar?, ¿cómo sobrevivían?, ¿qué actividades desarrollaban?, ¿cómo se organizaban? y en última instancia, qué pensaban y sentían, son algunas de las preguntas que nos propusimos abordar en este libro.

In February 2016 the wreck of the North American whaling ship Samuel Wright (1840) was identified buried in reclaimed land at Koombana Bay, Bunbury. The wreck has social, historic and archaeological significance at the state, national and international level.

From the time that whaleships first rounded Cape Horn at the end of the eighteenth century, the activities of European and American whalers transformed the landscape and seascape of the Pacific region. While systematic hunting had a profound effect on cetacean populations, whaling affected more than just the hunted. The pursuit of new whaling grounds, the need to replenish food, water and firewood, and the frequent occurrence of shipwrecks and desertion, all led to interactions with the indigenous inhabitants and environments of virtually every archipelago. These interactions generated enduring influences, both positive and negative, on the cultural and material heritage of the Pacific.

The archaeological evidence of whaling can be seen through the wrecks of whaling ships, the remains of whaling stations, and shipwreck survivors' camps that are found in even the most distant corners of the Pacific. The information contained in such sites has proven potential to inform researchers from a range of disciplines including archaeology, historical ecology, biology, and conservation science. Due to the remote locations of many of these sites and the limited resources available for accessing and studying them, multidisciplinary approaches to their investigation offer researchers and heritage managers cost effective options for gleaning valuable data.

There are thirteen pelagic whalers wrecked along the Western Australian coast. Out of these five have been located and identified and only two have had extensive archaeological research conducted on them. Overall, nine of these whalers were American. During the early nineteenth century Western Australian colonies were isolated, small and struggling, they could not afford to construct specialised whaling equipment or import it from Europe or America to establish their own shore-based whaling enterprises. Whilst visiting foreign pelagic whalers created conflict with the colonies over whaling rights they also provided cheap equipment and experienced men towards the early shore-based whaling industries set up by the colonists.
The study of pelagic wrecks can reveals information about numerous aspects of the whaling trade including economics, culture and technology. However, with only five out of thirteen wrecks located in Western Australia, it is essential to identify the other nine before more in depth research can begin. Research is currently underway in creating a construction typology of early nineteenth century American whalers in order to apply it to wrecks located in the future and aid in identification. Whilst this approach may seem narrow minded and lacking in a broader theory of study it is an essential basis for further study. In order to study all aspects of the pelagic whaling industry in Western Australia, the basics must first be understood.

En este artículo, mi principal objetivo es contribuir a las discusiones sobre las formas que puede cobrar la persona en el mundo moderno. Para ello cuestiono la idea (implícita en muchos trabajos) que el individuo es la única forma posible de ser en este tipo de contextos. El enfoque del trabajo es arqueológico, por lo que se preocupa por comprender las particularidades de la vida sociocultural mediante el abordaje de su materialidad. Como la dimensión material de la persona supone un cuerpo, y los cuerpos suelen presentarse vestidos en las situaciones de interacción social, aquí privilegio el “cuerpo-vestido” como vía de análisis. En el marco de la propuesta, selecciono un grupo que –por ser tradicionalmente considerado representativo del individualismo– permite discutir ciertas ideas sobre la persona moderna: los balleneros-loberos de la industria capitalista del siglo XIX (especialmente, aquéllos que formaron parte de la flota norteamericana). The main purpose of this article is ...

Coopers made oil casks for storage purposes on whaling ships. Other coopers sailed on such vessels to assemble, repair and maintain the casks. Others employed by dock companies were on hand to repair them if needed when they were unloaded at voyages end.

In February 2000, the Maritime Heritage Unit (MHU) undertook fieldwork at Wilsons Promontory to locate the wreck of the wooden ex-whaling barque Cheviot. The Cheviot was a purpose built whaler and operated as such for most of its life, making thirteen whaling voyages from 1837-50 during its period of Australian ownership.  It was predicted to be the only known shipwreck in Victorian waters likely to have been carrying whaling equipment  at its time of loss, and its predicted state of preservation made it significant in terms of archaeological potential.

The site was located in 26m depth by a combined magnetometer and sounder survey during  the February 2000 fieldwork, and further fieldwork was  undertaken in March 2001, March 2002 and March 2004 to map the  site .

Sealers were the first people to visit Antarctica; particularly, the South Shetland Islands. One of the most important goals of the international project “Landscapes in White” is to discuss the early history of the archipelago. In this way, the members of the project want to learn more about the people who were silenced by the official narratives of the region. For years, we have taken for granted what it was like to be a sealer. In this chapter, I would like to question this idea, considering the process by which somebody became a particular kind of sailor and hunter. This challenge makes me focus on the figure of the “green hands” (those who entered the trade). Furthermore, it makes me go beyond the South Shetlands, including some other scenarios which were also part of the sealing voyages. The analysis considers the ways in which the green hands acquired new habits as part of their sensory-motor engagement with different material contexts. It also considers the ways in which these habits could have shaped specific subjectivities.