Approaching sealing landscapes. A reflection on places, mobilities and tasks in nineteenth-century Antarctica

MELISA A. SALERNO; MARÍA JIMENA CRUZ

Congreso; 10th Scar Open Science Conference; 2022

Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR)

The South Shetland Islands became the focus of commercial sealing in the nineteenth century. At that moment, the skins of fur seals were sought for the production of fashion goods, while the oil of elephant seals was used for lighting, and the production of machine lubricants, among other things. For a few years now, the 'Landscapes in White' research project –of which we are part– has conducted archaeological studies at multiples sealing sites in Livingston Island. While this work has shed light on different aspects of sealers’ lives , the primary focus on the archaeological site as a unit of study has sometimes overshadowed a deeper consideration of sealing landscapes. In this presentation we will reflect on sealing landscapes as 'landscapes of production' intertwining places and movements, as well as multiple tasks. Tim Ingold’s reflections on landscapes (including ideas on temporality, the dynamics of taskscapes, and the mutual relationships between human and non-human agents) provide relevant tools for analysis, along with other contributions from the “mobilities turn” in humanities and the studies of “chaîne opératoires”. The presentation will resort to unpublished sealing logbooks describing nineteenth-century sealing voyages to the South Shetlands as the primary source for analysis. The results of the work will allow assessing the complex nature of sealing landscapes in the region. Furthermore, they will provide an interesting chance for discussing the impact of a landscape perspective in the archaeological research and heritage management of sealing material remains.