To eat or not to eat. Understanding Antarctica through food

MARÍA JIMENA CRUZ

Ushuaia

Congreso; SC-HASS Conference 2019. Antarctic Connections at the End of the World: Understanding the Past and Shaping the Future; 2019

Conference of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)

Embarking in long trips away from the things that are common to us, is something that generates uncertain feelings in every human being because it implies the encounter with the unknown. One of the ways of coping with this situation and become familiar with these new places is through alimentation. By experimenting new flavours, new ways of preparing, sharing and eating, we construct memories through which we create a sensation of awareness with our surroundings Differently to other places, the Antarctic territory has not what it could be called as an ?Antarctic cuisine?. Nevertheless, the relation established between people and this place has existed for more than two centuries and alimentation has played an important role in this interaction.Using the study case of the nineteenth century sealer industry, this presentation seeks to discuss how these groups of people generated new ways of obtaining, preparing and consuming food in Antartica that allowed them to internalise, relate and generate memories of this territory. In order to achieve this, the sealer occupations in Byers Peninsula (South Shetland) will be discussed through archaeological and documental evidence.