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Ancient whale exploitation in the Mediterranean: species matters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

Ana S.L. Rodrigues ,
Liora Kolska Horwitz ,
Sophie Monsarrat  and
Anne Charpentier
Ana S.L. Rodrigues
Affiliation:
CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS—Université de Montpellier—Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier—EPHE—CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France (Email: ana.rodrigues@cefe.cnrs.fr; sophiemonsarrat@gmail.com; anne.charpentier@cefe.cnrs.fr)
Liora Kolska Horwitz
Affiliation:
National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Berman Boulevard, E. Safra Campus, Jerusalem 91904, Israel (Email: lix1000@gmail.com)
Sophie Monsarrat
Affiliation:
CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS—Université de Montpellier—Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier—EPHE—CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France (Email: ana.rodrigues@cefe.cnrs.fr; sophiemonsarrat@gmail.com; anne.charpentier@cefe.cnrs.fr)
Anne Charpentier
Affiliation:
CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS—Université de Montpellier—Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier—EPHE—CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France (Email: ana.rodrigues@cefe.cnrs.fr; sophiemonsarrat@gmail.com; anne.charpentier@cefe.cnrs.fr)
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Abstract

How did ancient communities around the Mediterranean exploit the presence of whales in their seas? Given that the whales currently present in the region are seldom found near the coast, it seems probable that ancient whale exploitation would have been restricted to stranded animals. The authors explore, however, the possibility that additional species migrated seasonally through the Strait of Gibraltar to visit coastal calving grounds, which could have supported an organised whaling industry. Classical literature provides a number of descriptions suggestive of coastal encounters with whales. New methods of whale bone identification will shed light on which species were previously present in the Mediterranean and thus on the probability of ancient whaling. This article is one of two on ancient whaling in the current issue, and should be read in conjunction with that by Darío Bernal-Casasola and colleagues.

Keywords

Mediterraneanclassical literaturewhaleswhaling
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 352 , August 2016 , pp. 928 - 938
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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