Exploring and exploiting Antarctica: the first human interactions

ANDRÈS ZARANKIN; MELISA A. SALERNO

Florianópolis

Congreso; 3rd World Congress of Environmental History; 2019

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Antarctica was the last continent to be known. Human encounters with the region acquired different characteristics over time. Within the framework of dominant narratives, the early ´exploitation´ of the territory was given less attention than late nineteenth andn early twentieth-century ´exploration´. Dominant narratives on the period refer to the captains of sealing vessels, the discovery of geographical features, the volume of resources obtained. However, they do not consider the life of the ordinary sealers who lived and worked on the islands. In this chapter we will try to show the power of archaeology to shed light on these ´invisible people´ and their forgotten stories. We hold that archaeology offers a possibility for reimagining the past of Antarctica, calling for a revision of traditional narratives.