Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil
Abstract In the seventeenth century, the climate of the Arctic cooled, warmed briefly, and cooled again, just as European merchants established new industries to extract the region’s resources. Few were larger or more violent than the whaling industry that exploited bowhead whales between Jan Mayen...
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Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press (OUP)
2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac009 https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-pdf/127/1/62/43464090/rhac009.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/ahr/rhac009 2024-09-09T19:23:10+00:00 Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil Degroot, Dagomar 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac009 https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-pdf/127/1/62/43464090/rhac009.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model The American Historical Review volume 127, issue 1, page 62-99 ISSN 0002-8762 1937-5239 journal-article 2022 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac009 2024-06-17T04:15:37Z Abstract In the seventeenth century, the climate of the Arctic cooled, warmed briefly, and cooled again, just as European merchants established new industries to extract the region’s resources. Few were larger or more violent than the whaling industry that exploited bowhead whales between Jan Mayen and Svalbard. This article argues that linked changes in climate and animal behavior influenced violence among whalers in different ways during three stages of the seventeenth-century industry. In the first, cooling discouraged violence by increasing the regional extent of sea ice, which led both whales and whalers to congregate in tight quarters, raising the cost of hostilities among whalers. In the second, violence provoked attempts to colonize fortified whaling stations year-round, leading to a shift in polar bear behavior and exposing overwintering whalers to some of the coldest weather of the Little Ice Age in the Arctic. In the third, sweeping changes in climate and whale culture helped doom whaling companies and their fortified whaling stations, while encouraging open-sea whaling that transformed where and how whalers could fight one another. This article reveals, above all, the potential of combining climate history with animal-human history to provide fresh perspectives on the past, present, and future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Jan Mayen polar bear Sea ice Svalbard Oxford University Press Arctic Jan Mayen Svalbard Svalbard ENVELOPE(20.000,20.000,78.000,78.000) The American Historical Review 127 1 62 99 |
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Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
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English |
description |
Abstract In the seventeenth century, the climate of the Arctic cooled, warmed briefly, and cooled again, just as European merchants established new industries to extract the region’s resources. Few were larger or more violent than the whaling industry that exploited bowhead whales between Jan Mayen and Svalbard. This article argues that linked changes in climate and animal behavior influenced violence among whalers in different ways during three stages of the seventeenth-century industry. In the first, cooling discouraged violence by increasing the regional extent of sea ice, which led both whales and whalers to congregate in tight quarters, raising the cost of hostilities among whalers. In the second, violence provoked attempts to colonize fortified whaling stations year-round, leading to a shift in polar bear behavior and exposing overwintering whalers to some of the coldest weather of the Little Ice Age in the Arctic. In the third, sweeping changes in climate and whale culture helped doom whaling companies and their fortified whaling stations, while encouraging open-sea whaling that transformed where and how whalers could fight one another. This article reveals, above all, the potential of combining climate history with animal-human history to provide fresh perspectives on the past, present, and future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Degroot, Dagomar |
spellingShingle |
Degroot, Dagomar Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
author_facet |
Degroot, Dagomar |
author_sort |
Degroot, Dagomar |
title |
Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
title_short |
Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
title_full |
Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
title_fullStr |
Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
title_full_unstemmed |
Blood and Bone, Tears and Oil |
title_sort |
blood and bone, tears and oil |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac009 https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-pdf/127/1/62/43464090/rhac009.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.000,20.000,78.000,78.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Jan Mayen Svalbard Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Jan Mayen Svalbard Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Jan Mayen polar bear Sea ice Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Jan Mayen polar bear Sea ice Svalbard |
op_source |
The American Historical Review volume 127, issue 1, page 62-99 ISSN 0002-8762 1937-5239 |
op_rights |
https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac009 |
container_title |
The American Historical Review |
container_volume |
127 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
62 |
op_container_end_page |
99 |
_version_ |
1809763526013616128 |