Data · dataset · 2023
MALDI-TOF MS spectra of archaeological whale bone specimens from Atlantic Europe
Listed in DataCite
Whale bones are regularly found during archaeological excavations.
Description
Identification of these specimens to taxonomic levels is problematic due to their fragmented state. This lack of taxonomic resolution limits understanding of the past spatiotemporal distributions of whale populations and reconstructions of early whaling activities.
To overcome this challenge, we performed Zooarchaeology by Mass-Spectrometry on an unprecedented selection of 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, from the Middle to Late Neolithic (c.3500–2500 BCE) to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (most likely North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two species no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic.
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Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with the known medieval whaling cultures of the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that pre-industrial whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extinction and extirpation respectively. Much lower numbers of other large whale taxa were identified, suggesting that it was once abundant and accessible whales that suffered the greatest long-term impact.
The pattern of natural abundance leading to over-exploitation, well-documented for other taxa, is thus applicable to early whaling.
Links
Where it is published
- Repository landing page datadryad.org/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcch7 ↗
landing page · from DataCite
- DOI doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcch7 ↗
DOI / persistent id · from DataCite
Documentation and papers
- Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode ↗
license · from DataCite
- IsCitedBy 10.1098/rsos.230741 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230741 ↗
publication · from DataCite
Catalogue records · 2
- DataCite API api.datacite.org/dois/10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcch7 ↗
metadata API · from DataCite
- DataCite Commons commons.datacite.org/doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcch7 ↗
catalogue entry · from DataCite
Topics
- Stated by source
- History and archaeology
- Inferred from text
- Archaeology 73%
Related
- Possibly the same asMALDI-TOF MS spectra of archaeological whale bone specimens from Atlantic Europe
Provenance · 1 source records, 10 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataCite | 10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcch7 | 15 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | /data/attributes/rightsList |
| byte_size | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:4301 | enrichment · DataCite | taxonomy-embedding@1.1.0 | title+keywords+description (73%) |
| concepts[field].fos:history-and-archaeology | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | |
| created_date | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | /data/attributes/descriptions |
| license | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | /data/attributes/rightsList |
| publication_date | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | /data/attributes/dates |
| title | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 | /data/attributes/titles/0/title |
| version_label | source · DataCite | connector:datacite@1.0.0 |