The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting

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  • Fanny Sikström
  • Luc Amkreutz
  • Madeleine Bleasdale
  • Aurélia Borvon
  • Brice Ephrem
  • Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez
  • Hannah M. B. Gibbs
  • Leif Jonsson
  • Alexander Lehouck
  • Jose Martínez Cedeira
  • Stefan Meng
  • Rui Monge
  • Marta Moreno
  • Mariana Nabais
  • Carlos Nores
  • José Antonio Pis-Millán
  • Ian Riddler
  • Ulrich Schmölcke
  • Martin Segschneider
  • Camilla Speller
  • Maria Vretemark
  • Stephen Wickler
  • Marie Josée Nadeau
  • James H. Barrett

Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer230741
TidsskriftRoyal Society Open Science
Vol/bind10
Udgave nummer9
Antal sider16
ISSN2054-5703
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This paper is funded by the MSCA-IF project Demise of the Atlantic Grey whale (DAG) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101025598) and under the Ecology Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) under grant agreement KNAWWF/747/ECO2021-13. The study received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Project 4-OCEANS under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 951649). One sample was analysed using funding received from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 834087 (COMMIOS). The samples from Galicia provided by CEMMA were collected as part of the ‘Galicia no Lombo da Balea II’ project, financed by the Grupo de Acción Costeria GAC-7 Ria de Vigo-A Guarda. Acknowledgements

Funding Information:
Danielle Buss, Thea Christophersen, John Øystein Haarsaker, Karstein Hårsaker, Monica Nordanger Enehaug, Helene Løvstrand Svarva, Martin Seiler, Sølvi Stene and Damaris Zurbach of the NTNU are thanked for help during the sampling and the sample preparation process; Marta Munoz-Alegre and Sophie Rabinow of the University of Cambridge are thanked for their help with the ZooMS analysis; Ana Rodrigues of UMR 1575 Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle and Evolutive is thanked for providing a radiocarbon date for the grey whale specimen from the site of Catterick. We thank Uko Gorter for allowing us to use his amazing illustrations. One of the specimens ZooMS analysed was carried out by Samantha Presslee at BioArCh, University of York using the Ultraflex III MALDI-ToF/ToF instrument in the York Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry. The centre was created thanks to a major capital investment through Science City York, supported by Yorkshire Forward with funds from the Northern Way Initiative, and subsequent support from EPSRC (EP/K039660/1; EP/M028127/1). Cristina Brito and Nina Vieira provided feedback on the research design. The following people are thanked for providing samples: Jordy Aal of BAAC Netherlands; Henk Aandewiel of the Poldermuseum Heerhugowaard; Cecilia Ahlsén, Astrid Lennblad, Ingela Lundin and Anna-Lena Segestam Macfie of Bohusläns museum; Kim Aluwe of GATE Archaeology; Jasper de Bruin, Robert Ritter and Annemarieke Willemsen of the National Museum of Antiquities of The Netherlands; Piet Apeldoorn; Óscar Armada, Eugenio Linares and Xulio Villnarino (Porto de Bares); Juan Carlos Armas, Octavio Ruiz Capilla, Pedro Cembreros and Guillermo García Vega from Llanes; Hidde Bakker of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam; Ron Bakx of BAAC Flanders; Maarten Berkers of the Stad Gent – Dienst Stadsarcheologie en Monumentenzorg; Cyrille Billard of DRAC Normandie; Nynke de Boer, Nathalie Brusgaard, Jildou Kooistra and Shyama Vermeersch of the University of Groningen; Mark Bosselaers of the Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen; Theo Bottelier of the Archeologische Werkgroep Haarlem; Camping Costa Verde from Colunga; The City Council of Ribadesella; Marco Antonio Cobo and José Ramón García Requejo from Comillas; Alexandra Croom of Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort; Jody Deacon of the National Museum Wales; Sean Dexter Denham of the University of Stavanger; Hanne Deprince of Provinciedomein Raversyde; Frans Diederik of the Archeologische Werkgroep Schagen; Menno Dijkstra and Anja Fischer of the University of Amsterdam; Eleanor Drew of York Archaeological Trust; Mark Driessen of the University of Leiden; Joanneke van den Engel-Hees of the Provinciaal Archeologisch Depot Noord-Holland; Kinie Esser, Leida van Hees and Tijmen Moesker of Archeoplan Eco; Excellence Cluster ROOTS, Kiel University; Aagje Feldbrugge of the Zeeuws Archeologisch Depot; Manda Forster and Nat Jackson of DigVentures; José Ramón García López of the Museo Marítimo de Luanco; Johan van Gent of Raap Archeologie; Mateo González Martín and Manuel Ramón Rodríguez from Candás; Martijn van Haasteren of the Cultural Heritage Agency of The Netherlands; Volker Hilberg, Joachim Schultze and Inga Sommerfeld of the Museum für Archäologie, Schleswig; Jan Huyghe of the Municipality of Bruges; Andreas Johansson of The Halland Regional Museums Foundation; Jan Jongeneel; Julie Kennard of Bury St Edmunds Suffolk County Sites and Monuments Record; Henk Kloosterman of Schokland Museum; Robert Lancaster of the Dorset Archaeology and Natural History Museum; Anthony Lefort of the Institut national de recherches archéologiques preventives, Carquefou; Oceane-Marie Lemeltier and Musée de Préhistoire de Carnac; Carolien van Loon of the Archeologisch and Bouwhistorisch Depot of Vlaardingen; Willy Maris of the Historisch Genootschap Wieringermeer; Renée Martveldt of the Laboratory of Archaeozoological studies of the University of Leiden; Willem Messchaert and Tjeerd van Weering of the Historische Vereniging Kolhorn; Robert van de Mijle-Meijer of DSB Department Archaeology of the Municipality of The Hague; Fons Morsch, Rita Morsch and Lou Sinke of Stichting Regionale Archeologie Baduhenna; Museo de Historia Natural da SGHN (Ferrol); Museo Pronvincial do Mar and Ramón Rivas (San Cibrao); NTNU University Museum; Emma O'Connor of Sussex Past; Olaug Økland of Dalane Folkemuseum; Arthur Oosterbaan, Adrie Vonk and Ineke Vonk of Ecomare; Francisco Pis Carvajal from Gobiendes; Rose Nicholson of North Lincolnshire Museum; Frank Pennekamp of the Historische Vereniging Oud Stede Broec; Brian Philp of Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit; Mark Phlippeau and Annemieke van Toor of the Provinciaal Archeologisch Depot Zuid-Holland; Mark van Raaij; Julie Riviere of the Direction of the Archaeology of Chartres metropole and Franck Verneau of INRAP; Francis Robbesom of the Archaeologisch and Bouwhistorisch Depot Haarlem; James Sainsbury of the Worthing Museum; Rachel Sharples of the Royal Collection Trust; Carla Soonius of Archeologie West-Friesland; Dion Stoop of the Noordelijke Archeologisch Depot Nuis; Chris-Cecile Vauterin of Inrap Normandie Occidentale; Wout De Vuyst of the STAM Stadsmuseum Gent; Nele Vanholme and Jules Velleman of RAAP Belgium; and Nicola Wilson of The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors.

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