Abstract

Although the trans-Atlantic cod trade linked North American and European socioeconomic spheres, few studies analyze both regions concurrently to understand the impact and extent of cod trade at a wider scale. We summarize new results of zooarchaeological analysis from Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, Canada, a major North American cod-trading port, and consider its role in the wider trans-Atlantic trade network by conducting a meta-analysis of the archaeological record of cod trade during the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. We show that though cod remains are abundant in assemblages from the Northeast and Atlantic Canada where they were caught and processed, they are relatively rare in other North American assemblages, including Caribbean plantations where cod was imported in large quantities to support slave laborers. Furthermore, though North Atlantic cod have been identified isotopically in European assemblages, they are found primarily within the known habitat range of Atlantic cod at this time. Finally, by comparing European and North American datasets we demonstrate that length is unlikely to be reliable as a means of sourcing cod. This examination contributes to our understanding of cod’s important economic role in the development of trans-Atlantic connections between North American and European trading ports.

摘要

尽管跨大西洋鳕鱼贸易将北美和欧洲的社会经济领域联系在一起，但很少有研究同时分析这两个地区以了解更广泛范围内鳕鱼贸易的影响和程度。我们总结了来自加拿大新斯科舍省路易斯堡的动物考古学分析的新结果，该港口是北美主要的鳕鱼贸易港口，并通过对期间鳕鱼贸易的考古记录进行荟萃分析来考虑其在更广泛的跨大西洋贸易网络中的作用十五至十九世纪。我们表明，尽管鳕鱼残骸在捕获和加工的加拿大东北部和大西洋的组合中很丰富，但在北美的其他组合中却相对罕见，包括为支持奴隶劳工而大量进口鳕鱼的加勒比种植园。此外，虽然北大西洋鳕鱼已在欧洲群落中以同位素方式被鉴定出来，但它们目前主要在大西洋鳕鱼的已知栖息地范围内被发现。最后，通过比较欧洲和北美的数据集，我们证明长度作为采购鳕鱼的一种手段不太可能是可靠的。这项检查有助于我们了解鳕鱼在北美和欧洲贸易港口之间跨大西洋联系发展中的重要经济作用。