Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century.
The former occurrence of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese coast may be inferred from the historical range of that species in Europe and in NW Africa. It is generally accepted that it was the main prey of coastal whaling in the Middle Ages and in the pre-modern per...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2 2023-05-15T16:08:15+02:00 Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. António Teixeira Rui Venâncio Cristina Brito 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 https://doaj.org/article/aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3914782?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 https://doaj.org/article/aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2 PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 2, p e85971 (2014) Medicine R Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 2022-12-31T13:04:01Z The former occurrence of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese coast may be inferred from the historical range of that species in Europe and in NW Africa. It is generally accepted that it was the main prey of coastal whaling in the Middle Ages and in the pre-modern period, but this assumption still needs firming up based on biological and archaeological evidence. We describe the skeletal remains of right whales excavated at Peniche in 2001-2002, in association with archaeological artefacts. The whale bones were covered by sandy sediments on the old seashore and they have been tentatively dated around the 16th to 17th centuries. This study contributes material evidence to the former occurrence of E. glacialis in Portugal (West Iberia). Some whale bones show unequivocal man-made scars. These are associated to wounds from instruments with a sharp-cutting blade. This evidence for past human interaction may suggest that whaling for that species was active at Peniche around the early 17th century. Article in Journal/Newspaper Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 9 2 e85971 |
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English |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q António Teixeira Rui Venâncio Cristina Brito Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
The former occurrence of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese coast may be inferred from the historical range of that species in Europe and in NW Africa. It is generally accepted that it was the main prey of coastal whaling in the Middle Ages and in the pre-modern period, but this assumption still needs firming up based on biological and archaeological evidence. We describe the skeletal remains of right whales excavated at Peniche in 2001-2002, in association with archaeological artefacts. The whale bones were covered by sandy sediments on the old seashore and they have been tentatively dated around the 16th to 17th centuries. This study contributes material evidence to the former occurrence of E. glacialis in Portugal (West Iberia). Some whale bones show unequivocal man-made scars. These are associated to wounds from instruments with a sharp-cutting blade. This evidence for past human interaction may suggest that whaling for that species was active at Peniche around the early 17th century. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
António Teixeira Rui Venâncio Cristina Brito |
author_facet |
António Teixeira Rui Venâncio Cristina Brito |
author_sort |
António Teixeira |
title |
Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
title_short |
Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
title_full |
Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
title_fullStr |
Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century. |
title_sort |
archaeological remains accounting for the presence and exploitation of the north atlantic right whale eubalaena glacialis on the portuguese coast (peniche, west iberia), 16th to 17th century. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 https://doaj.org/article/aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2 |
genre |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
genre_facet |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 2, p e85971 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3914782?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 https://doaj.org/article/aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085971 |
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PLoS ONE |
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9 |
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2 |
container_start_page |
e85971 |
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