Turtleizing Mariners - The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Consumption of Large Testudines in 16th- to 19th- Century Maritime Communities

Abstract

Turtle, tortoise, turpin, and terapen (terrapin) are just a few of the wide variety of terms found in primary documents of the maritime world to refer to reptiles belonging to the order Testudines. These animals were a heavily exploited resource during the 16th through the 19th centuries as a commodity for Europe and a convenient shipboard food. Throughout the Age of Sail, the green sea turtle was a vital food source for mariners, mentioned across a wide array of historical sources, from ship logs and sailors’ journals to newspapers, letters, art, and literature. Cross-referencing and comparing these works with archaeological data identifies patterns of culture in shipboard and coastal community life that contrast with trends identified in urban consumer centers, which were often a destination for this commodity.

This study seeks to reconstruct more than merely a nutritional narrative but to identify the cultural contexts of Testudines meat use by maritime communities and how this relates to larger societies. This work will create a better understanding of sailor life during this period by providing an insight into the intersection between daily maritime life and larger forces such as economics and ideology.

The evidence examined in this study highlights political and cultural events that directly contributed to the over-hunting of sea turtles and the depletion of their population. This new interpretation of past sea turtle and human interaction has beneficial applications to modern conservation efforts focused on wild sea turtle populations. Coastal communities have a longstanding relationship with these animals, which are significant elements of regional subsistence and culture. Archaeological excavations of both coastal sites and shipwrecks have produced faunal assemblages containing significant numbers of sea turtle elements, creating a need to understand the functional, historical, and cultural role of these animals in past maritime communities. Inquiry along these lines will facilitate applying cultural relativism in the development of modern sea turtle conservation programs. The use of historical particularism to understand paradigms of human and turtle interaction is essential to fully understand the current endangered status of the latter.