A historical archaeology of the first Antarctic laborers (nineteenth century)

MELISA A. SALERNO; MARÍA JIMENA CRUZ; ANDRÈS ZARANKIN

The Cambridge History of the Polar Regions

Cambridge University Press

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2023; p. 407 - 429

In this chapter we will discuss who the ordinary sealers were who made up the workforce of Antarctic sealing exploitation, and how these people led their lives within the framework of the capitalist system in which they worked. With that aim in mind, in the first section of this work we will look at the recruitment and composition of the sealing crews, and the organization of their subsistence and work on board the sealing vessels. Although the ports of departure and the vessels were not part of the Antarctic territory, what happened at these locations is relevant to understanding these people’s existence during the voyages bound to Antarctica as a whole. In the second section we will examine the organization of sealers’ subsistence and work on the hunting grounds of the South Shetland Islands. For the sealing vessels and the Antarctic hunting grounds, we will consider the analysis of specific sets of practices involving work and subsistence, such as sailing, killing, and processing; and habitation, feeding, and clothing. Special attention will be paid to the degree of control that capitalist companies could have exercised over sealers’ practices.