Pearl Fisheries in South Asia: Archaeological Evidence from Pre-Colonial and Colonial Shell Middens around the Gulf of Mannar in Sri Lanka-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Pearl Fisheries in South Asia: Archaeological Evidence from Pre-Colonial and Colonial Shell Middens around the Gulf of Mannar in Sri Lanka

Published:2024-05-16 Issue: Volume: Page:
ISSN:1092-7697
Container-title:International Journal of Historical Archaeology
language:en
Short-container-title:Int J Histor Archaeol

Author:

Siriwardana Thilanka M.^ORCID,Dissanayake Nadeera H.,Çakırlar Canan^ORCID

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates pre-colonial and colonial-era pearl fisheries in Sri Lanka using archaeological data from the Gulf of Mannar (GoM). Following surface surveys, test pits were excavated in three pearl oyster middens and one coastal settlement. The archaeomalacological study of the molluscan remains from the middens confirms that the pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata) was the predominant species exploited, providing a clear picture of the pearl oyster bank ecosystems used at the industrial level. Morphometric analysis of the pearl oysters allows for an assessment of exploitation pressure. Ceramic and radiocarbon analyses date the high impact of the pearl industry from the tenth to the nineteenth centuries. The study of by-catch fauna provides insight into pearl bank ecosystems over time. These archaeological findings highlight the impact of industrial extractions on a single species.

Funder

AHEAD scholarship grant of the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Sri Lanka

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Link

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10761-024-00739-5.pdf

Reference154 articles.

1. Abraham, S. A. (2002). Social Complexity in Early Tamilakam: Sites and Ceramics from the Palghat Gap, Kerala, India. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

2. Al-Tabari, Abu Ja’far M. (1999 [915 CE]). The History of Al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-Rusul Wa’l-Muluk): The Sasanids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen, Vol. V, Bosworth, C. E. (trans.), State University of New York Press, Albany.

3. Alagarswami, K. and Chellam, A. (1977). Change of form and dimensional relationship in the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata from Gulf of Mannar. Indian Journal of Fisheries 24 (1 & 2): 1–14.

4. Ali, A. (2006). Pearl Industry during the British Period of Sri Lanka. Murdoch University, Perth.

5. Antczak, A. T., Antczak, M. M., Antczak, O., and Buffet, L. A. L. (2019). Rancherías: historical archaeology of early colonial campsites on Margarita and Coche Islands, Venezuela. In Hofman, C. and Keehnen, F. (eds.), Material Encounters and Indigenous Transformations in the Early Colonial Americas. Brill, Leiden, pp. 146–174.