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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Published in:PLoS ONE
Main Authors: António Teixeira, Rui Venâncio, Cristina Brito
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085971
https://doaj.org/article/aa420955c9604eb0aca55d6edac748a2
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spelling 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
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle 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
container_title PLoS ONE
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