Logbooks and Antarctic sealing. Approaching early- and late-19th-century exploitation strategies and their archaeological footprint

MELISA A. SALERNO; MARÍA JIMENA CRUZ

POLAR RECORD

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2023 vol. 59 p. 1 - 18

0032-2474

In the 19th century, sealing vessels visited the SouthShetland Islands to exploit animal resources for the global skin and oilmarkets. The captains or mates of these vessels were responsible for keeping alogbook in which they recorded daily observations of weather conditions,hunting activities, etc. Despite the value of these documents as a source ofinformation, archaeologists studying Antarctic sealing have not always reliedon them. This paper examines the potential of logbooks for providinginformation that is relevant to the archaeological study of sealing in the SouthShetland Islands. In particular, it discusses how documentary analysis ofexploitation strategies can provide insight into the dynamics that influencedthe configuration of sealers’ sites. To this end, we propose a methodology forinvestigating exploitation strategies, taking into account severalarchaeologically sensitive variables, including the number, location andduration of landings, as well as the activities carried out during theseevents. We have taken four logbooks dating from the early and late 19th century– specifically those of the Aurora (1820–1821), the Huron (1820–1822), the Thomas Hunt(1873–1874) and the Sarah W. Hunt (1887–1888) – ascase studies to test the proposed methodology.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Aptos;panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:536871559 3 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-font-kerning:1.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}span.italic{mso-style-name:italic;mso-style-unhide:no;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Aptos;panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:536871559 3 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-font-kerning:1.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}span.italic{mso-style-name:italic;mso-style-unhide:no;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;mso-ascii-font-family:Aptos;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Aptos;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}