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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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The prelude to industrial whaling : identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting. / van den Hurk, Youri; Sikström, Fanny; Amkreutz, Luc; Bleasdale, Madeleine; Borvon, Aurélia; Ephrem, Brice; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Gibbs, Hannah M. B.; Jonsson, Leif; Lehouck, Alexander; Cedeira, Jose Martínez; Meng, Stefan; Monge, Rui; Moreno, Marta; Nabais, Mariana; Nores, Carlos; Pis-Millán, José Antonio; Riddler, Ian; Schmölcke, Ulrich; Segschneider, Martin; Speller, Camilla; Vretemark, Maria; Wickler, Stephen; Collins, Matthew; Nadeau, Marie Josée; Barrett, James H.

In: Royal Society Open Science, Vol. 10, No. 9, 230741, 2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

van den Hurk, Y, Sikström, F, Amkreutz, L, Bleasdale, M, Borvon, A, Ephrem, B, Fernández-Rodríguez, C, Gibbs, HMB, Jonsson, L, Lehouck, A, Cedeira, JM, Meng, S, Monge, R, Moreno, M, Nabais, M, Nores, C, Pis-Millán, JA, Riddler, I, Schmölcke, U, Segschneider, M, Speller, C, Vretemark, M, Wickler, S, Collins, M, Nadeau, MJ & Barrett, JH 2023, 'The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting', Royal Society Open Science, vol. 10, no. 9, 230741. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230741

APA

van den Hurk, Y., Sikström, F., Amkreutz, L., Bleasdale, M., Borvon, A., Ephrem, B., Fernández-Rodríguez, C., Gibbs, H. M. B., Jonsson, L., Lehouck, A., Cedeira, J. M., Meng, S., Monge, R., Moreno, M., Nabais, M., Nores, C., Pis-Millán, J. A., Riddler, I., Schmölcke, U., ... Barrett, J. H. (2023). The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting. Royal Society Open Science, 10(9), [230741]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230741

Vancouver

van den Hurk Y, Sikström F, Amkreutz L, Bleasdale M, Borvon A, Ephrem B et al. The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting. Royal Society Open Science. 2023;10(9). 230741. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230741

Author

van den Hurk, Youri ; Sikström, Fanny ; Amkreutz, Luc ; Bleasdale, Madeleine ; Borvon, Aurélia ; Ephrem, Brice ; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos ; Gibbs, Hannah M. B. ; Jonsson, Leif ; Lehouck, Alexander ; Cedeira, Jose Martínez ; Meng, Stefan ; Monge, Rui ; Moreno, Marta ; Nabais, Mariana ; Nores, Carlos ; Pis-Millán, José Antonio ; Riddler, Ian ; Schmölcke, Ulrich ; Segschneider, Martin ; Speller, Camilla ; Vretemark, Maria ; Wickler, Stephen ; Collins, Matthew ; Nadeau, Marie Josée ; Barrett, James H. / The prelude to industrial whaling : identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting. In: Royal Society Open Science. 2023 ; Vol. 10, No. 9.

Bibtex

@article{24f304af4bb94fac8f309d2fa25d2661,
title = "The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting",
abstract = "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. ",
keywords = "historical ecology, whales, zooarchaeology, zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry",
author = "{van den Hurk}, Youri and Fanny Sikstr{\"o}m and Luc Amkreutz and Madeleine Bleasdale and Aur{\'e}lia Borvon and Brice Ephrem and Carlos Fern{\'a}ndez-Rodr{\'i}guez and Gibbs, {Hannah M. B.} and Leif Jonsson and Alexander Lehouck and Cedeira, {Jose Mart{\'i}nez} and Stefan Meng and Rui Monge and Marta Moreno and Mariana Nabais and Carlos Nores and Pis-Mill{\'a}n, {Jos{\'e} Antonio} and Ian Riddler and Ulrich Schm{\"o}lcke and Martin Segschneider and Camilla Speller and Maria Vretemark and Stephen Wickler and Matthew Collins and Nadeau, {Marie Jos{\'e}e} and Barrett, {James H.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors.",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1098/rsos.230741",
language = "English",
volume = "10",
journal = "Royal Society Open Science",
issn = "2054-5703",
publisher = "TheRoyal Society Publishing",
number = "9",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The prelude to industrial whaling

T2 - identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting

AU - van den Hurk, Youri

AU - Sikström, Fanny

AU - Amkreutz, Luc

AU - Bleasdale, Madeleine

AU - Borvon, Aurélia

AU - Ephrem, Brice

AU - Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos

AU - Gibbs, Hannah M. B.

AU - Jonsson, Leif

AU - Lehouck, Alexander

AU - Cedeira, Jose Martínez

AU - Meng, Stefan

AU - Monge, Rui

AU - Moreno, Marta

AU - Nabais, Mariana

AU - Nores, Carlos

AU - Pis-Millán, José Antonio

AU - Riddler, Ian

AU - Schmölcke, Ulrich

AU - Segschneider, Martin

AU - Speller, Camilla

AU - Vretemark, Maria

AU - Wickler, Stephen

AU - Collins, Matthew

AU - Nadeau, Marie Josée

AU - Barrett, James H.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - historical ecology

KW - whales

KW - zooarchaeology

KW - zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry

U2 - 10.1098/rsos.230741

DO - 10.1098/rsos.230741

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37711146

AN - SCOPUS:85172221486

VL - 10

JO - Royal Society Open Science

JF - Royal Society Open Science

SN - 2054-5703

IS - 9

M1 - 230741

ER -

ID: 368730330