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Whalers Didn’t Just Sing Sea Shanties and Seek Adventure. Proof of Laborers' Grueling Work Is in Their Skeletons, Buried in the Arctic
Key takeaways
- Lise Loktu / NIKU Whaling took a brutal toll on laborers in the 17th and 18th centuries, reshaping their bodies so dramatically that the effects can still be seen in their skeletons today.
- Scientists investigated the remains of 20 whalers buried on Svalbard, a Norwegian-governed archipelago close to the North Pole.
- Whalers performed a variety of labor-intensive tasks, from hauling in live whales to processing their blubber for oil—often while working in cold, wet weather.
Lise Loktu / NIKU Whaling took a brutal toll on laborers in the 17th and 18th centuries, reshaping their bodies so dramatically that the effects can still be seen in their skeletons today.
In a new study published in the journal PLOS One, archaeologists describe the physical ramifications of hunting and processing the giant marine mammals in the High Arctic, grueling work that caused degenerative joint disease, trauma and other health problems.
Scientists investigated the remains of 20 whalers buried on Svalbard, a Norwegian-governed archipelago close to the North Pole. They studied graves at Likneset, also known as “Corpse Point,” a large whaling burial site with hundreds of shallow graves marked with stone cairns.
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