Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819. Almost immediately the fur seal population was intensively exploited and this lasted through the early years of the 1820s, by which time seal numbers had been so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and El...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2006
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600564x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600564X |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s003224740600564x 2024-09-15T18:04:43+00:00 Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands Pearson, Michael Stehberg, Ruben 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600564x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600564X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 42, issue 4, page 335-347 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2006 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600564x 2024-08-28T04:01:23Z The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819. Almost immediately the fur seal population was intensively exploited and this lasted through the early years of the 1820s, by which time seal numbers had been so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and Elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live. Many of these have been identified on the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated, though few with archaeological method. Fifty known sites are identified. The paper outlines the survey and excavation of two sites on Rugged Island by archaeologists from Australia and from the Chilean National Natural History Museum. One site relates to the sealing era of the 1820s, while the second may be associated with a marooned sealing gang in the 1870s. The nature of the occupation sites on the South Shetlands is analysed in relation to the social and operational context of the merchant navies of Britain and the USA in the nineteenth century. This is seen as a more directly relevant context for assessing physical evidence than is the application of theories of global capitalist systems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seals Polar Record Rugged Island South Shetland Islands Cambridge University Press Polar Record 42 4 335 347 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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English |
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The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819. Almost immediately the fur seal population was intensively exploited and this lasted through the early years of the 1820s, by which time seal numbers had been so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and Elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live. Many of these have been identified on the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated, though few with archaeological method. Fifty known sites are identified. The paper outlines the survey and excavation of two sites on Rugged Island by archaeologists from Australia and from the Chilean National Natural History Museum. One site relates to the sealing era of the 1820s, while the second may be associated with a marooned sealing gang in the 1870s. The nature of the occupation sites on the South Shetlands is analysed in relation to the social and operational context of the merchant navies of Britain and the USA in the nineteenth century. This is seen as a more directly relevant context for assessing physical evidence than is the application of theories of global capitalist systems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pearson, Michael Stehberg, Ruben |
spellingShingle |
Pearson, Michael Stehberg, Ruben Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
author_facet |
Pearson, Michael Stehberg, Ruben |
author_sort |
Pearson, Michael |
title |
Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
title_short |
Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
title_full |
Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
title_fullStr |
Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands |
title_sort |
nineteenth century sealing sites on rugged island, south shetland islands |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600564x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600564X |
genre |
Elephant Seals Polar Record Rugged Island South Shetland Islands |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals Polar Record Rugged Island South Shetland Islands |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 42, issue 4, page 335-347 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600564x |
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Polar Record |
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42 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
335 |
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347 |
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1810442340014227456 |