The prelude to industrial whaling:Identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting

Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.</p

First 10Be measurements at Trondheim 1 MV AMS

The performance of the Trondheim 1 MV AMS system for Be measurements has been investigated. While the initial acceptance tests were done using the 1 + 1+ charge state, we concluded that the 2 + 2+ charge state offers superior measurement conditions. With this setting, the source-to-detector efficiency is 5.4 ± 0.2% and a Be/Be background level of 3.4 ± 0.8·10 was achieved. Standard samples (n = 14) with a high Be content of Be/Be = 2.7·10 could be reproduced to a 0.4% precision, leaving counting statistics as the limiting uncertainty for most samples. The accuracy of the system was also tested using 5 secondary standards of different Be content. The results corroborate the precision achieved with the standard sample and demonstrate the accuracy of the system.Peer reviewe

The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting.

Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used

The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting.

Peer reviewed: TrueTaxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used

Dictionnaire

ACTION FRANÇAISE (1917-1928) / ACTION NATIONALE (1933- ) Lancée une dizaine d’années après l’affaire Dreyfus, L’Action française (AF) de Montréal existe toujours sous le titre L’Action nationale (AN). C’est dire la place de la revue pour l’histoire des intellectuels, d’autant plus qu’au-delà de La Revue canadienne (1864-1922) et des journaux nationalistes du début du siècle – Le Nationaliste (1903) d’Olivar Asselin*, L’Action (1911-1916) de Jules Fournier*, Le Devoir (1910) d’Henri Bourassa* ..

Dictionnaire des intellectuel.les au Québec

Qui connaît vraiment les intellectuel.les hors du cercle restreint des historiens et des littéraires ? Quelle mémoire avons-nous de celles et ceux qui, au Québec, eurent recours à la parole comme « mode d'action » ? Qui, comme Hubert Aquin, entreprirent et entreprennent encore de « comprendre dangereusement » la culture et la société de leur époque, remuant idées et images, bousculant pouvoirs et doxa ? Ce dictionnaire est conçu pour combler les lacunes d'une mémoire collective quelque peu défaillante, mais aussi pour donner envie de lire ou de relire les textes de ces femmes et hommes passionnés par les idées, qui ont contribué - et qui contribuent toujours - à bâtir la société québécoise. On y trouvera les noms de celles et ceux qui, depuis trois siècles, interviennent sur la place publique et soulèvent des questions d'intérêt civique et politique à propos d'enjeux collectifs importants ; de celles et ceux qui promeuvent ou incarnent la liberté de parole et la défendent contre différents pouvoirs et structures organisationnelles