Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T17:35:58.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Assessing tourism patterns in the South Shetland Islands for the conservation of 19th-century archaeological sites in Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2019

Maria Ximena Senatore*
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET-INAPL), Argentina Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA), Argentina
*
Author for correspondence: Maria Ximena Senatore, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Although archaeological studies focusing on 19th-century sealing have been performed over the past 30 years, its history and sites have traditionally had low visibility in Antarctic narratives and the Antarctic Treaty System policymaking on heritage. Researchers face the challenge of increasing the visibility of sealers’ history and public awareness of the importance of conserving the oldest sites of Antarctica. In this paper, we propose that identifying patterns of tourism activity in the South Shetland Islands, specifically in their temporal and spatial dimensions, could help protect these sites and engage visitors with the early history of Antarctica. Data collected by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators were used to calculate landing point usage trends over time and the frequency of passenger landings from 2003–2004 to 2015–2016. We defined six different visitation patterns with temporal tendencies of passenger landings that varied from increasing, constant, or decreasing trends over time, differing in the magnitude and intensity of visitation. This information was used to assess the situation of particular sites located in the vicinity of tourism landing points. We set priorities for their conservation and management decisions and highlighted their relative potential to engage visitors with the stories of 19th-century sealing in Antarctica.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashley, G., & Mackay, R. (2004). Mawson’s Huts Historic Site, Antarctica: the conservation management plan as a decision-making tool. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Cultural heritage in the Arctic and Antarctic regions (pp. 4452). Lorenskog: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Balch, E. (1902). Antarctica. Philadelphia: Press of Allen, Lane and Scott.Google Scholar
Barr, S. (2010). Arctic and Antarctic – different, but similar: challenges of heritage conservation in the high Arctic. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Polar settlements – location, techniques and conservation (pp. 1423). Fjellhamar: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Barr, S. (2018). Twenty years of protection of historic values in Antarctica under the Madrid Protocol. The Polar Journal, 8(2), 241264, https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2018.1541547 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basberg, B. L. (2008). Antarctic Tourism and the Maritime Heritage. Discussion Paper SAM, 20, (pp. 124). Berben: NHH.Google Scholar
Basberg, B. L. (2017). Commercial and economic aspects of Antarctic exploration – from the earliest discoveries into the “Heroic Age”. The Polar Journal, 7(1), 205226, https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2017.1324690 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basberg, B. L., & Headland, R. K. (2008). The Nineteenth Century Antarctic Sealing Industry: Source, Data and Economic Significance. Bergen: Institutt for Samfunnøkonomi.Google Scholar
Bastmeijer, K., & Lamers, M. (2013). Reaching consensus on Antarctic tourism regulation calibrating the human-nature relationship? In Müller, D. K. et al. (Eds.), New issues in polar tourism: communities environmental, politics (pp. 6782). Dordrecht: Springer Science+ Business Media.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bender, N. A., Crosbie, K., & Lynch, H. (2016). Patterns of tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region: a 20-year analysis. Antarctic Science, 28(3), 194203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berguño, J. (1993a). Las Shetland del Sur: el ciclo lobero. Primera parte. Boletín Antártico Chileno, 12(1), 513.Google Scholar
Berguño, J. (1993b). Las Shetland del Sur: el ciclo lobero. Segunda parte. Boletín Antártico Chileno, 12(2), 29.Google Scholar
Braun, C., Hertel, F., & Peter, H.-U. (2017). Environmental management – The Fildes Peninsula paradigm. In Doods, K., Hemmings, A. D., & Roberts, P. (Eds.), Handbook of the politics of Antarctica (pp. 351367). Cheltemham: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, C., Mustafa, O., Nordt, A., Pfeiffer, S., & Peter, H.-U. (2012). Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica. Polar Research, 31(1), https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, R. J. (2000). The Discovery of the South Shetlands Islands 1819–1820 as Recorded in Contemporary Documents and the Journal of Midshipman C.W. Poynter. London: The Hakluyt Society Series III, Volume 4.Google Scholar
Ferrigno, J. G., Cook, A. J., Foley, K. M., Williams, R. S. Jr. , Swithinbank, C. H., Fox, A. J., … Sievers, J. (2006). Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Trinity Peninsula area and South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: 1843–2001: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series Map I–2600–A, 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000, with 32-p. pamphlet. Available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2600/A Google Scholar
Gould, R. (1941). The charting of the South Shetland Islands. Mariner’s Mirror, 27(3), 206242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrowfield, D. L. (1991). Archaeology of Borchgrevink´s stores hut, Cape Adare, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal Archaeology, 13, 177197.Google Scholar
Harrowfield, D. L. (2005). Archaeology in Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 26, 528.Google Scholar
Headland, R. (2017). Antarctic sealing voyages 1786 to 1922. In Headland, R. (Ed.), Historical Antarctic sealing industry. Scott Polar Research Institute, Occasional Publication (pp. 171223). Cambridge: Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Headland, R. K. (1999). A Chronology of Antarctic Exploration. A Synopsis of Events and Activities from the Earliest Times until the International Polar Years, 2007–09. London: Bernard Quaritch.Google Scholar
Hughes, J. (1992). Mawson’s Antarctic huts and tourism: a case for on-site preservation. Polar Record, 28(164), 3742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, J. (1994). Antarctic historic sites: the tourism implications. Annals of Tourism Research, 21(2), 281294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, J., & Davis, B. (1995). The management of tourism at historic sites and monuments. In Jones, C. M. & Johnston, M. E. (Eds.), Polar tourism: tourism in the Arctic and Antarctic regions (pp. 235255). London and New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Jones, A. G. (1981a). The British southern whale and seal fisheries part I. The Great Circle, 3(1), 2029.Google Scholar
Jones, A. G. (1981b). The British southern whale and seal fisheries part I. The Great Circle, 3(2), 90102.Google Scholar
Lamers, M., Liggett, D., & Amelung, B. (2012). Strategic challenges of tourism development and governance in Antarctica: taking stock and moving forward. Polar Research, 31(1), https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.17219 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledingham, R. B. (1979). Expedition to renovate the 1912–13 Australian Antarctic Expedition Base Hut. Polar Record, 19(122), 485492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. E., & Hughes, K. A. (2010). Focused tourism needs focused monitoring. Antarctic Science, 22(1), 1, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102009990782 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis Smith, R. I., & Simpson, H. W. (1987). Early nineteenth century sealers’ refuges on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, 74, 4972.Google Scholar
Lüdecke, C. (2010). Gorgeous landscapes and wildlife: the importance and danger of Antarctic tourism. Hemispheric and Polar Studies Journal, 1(4), 213231.Google Scholar
Lynch, H. J., Crosbie, K., Fagan, W. F., & Naveen, R. (2010). Spatial patterns of tour ship traffic in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Antarctic Science, 22(2), 123130, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102009990654 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddison, B. (2014). Class and Colonialism in Antarctic Exploration, 1750–1920. United Kingdom: Pickering and Chatto Publishers.Google Scholar
Martin, L. (1940). Antarctica discovered by a Connecticut Yankee, Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer. The Geographical Review, XXX(4), 529562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miers, J. (1920). Account of the discovery of New South Shetland, with observations on its importance in geographical, commercial and political point of view: with two plates. Edinburgh Philosophical Review, III, 367380.Google Scholar
Oliva, M., Ruiz-Fernández, J., Zarankin, A., Casanova-Katny, A., & Nofre, J. (2017). Geoecology and historical heritage in the ice-free area of Elephant point (Antarctica). Proposal for future environmental protection. Geoheritage, 9(1), 97109, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-016-0184-1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M. (2011). Polar heritage conservation and archaeology. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Polar settlements – Location, techniques and conservation (pp. 2434). Fjellhamar: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Pearson, M. (2018). Living under their boats: a strategy for southern sealing in the nineteenth century – its history and archaeological potential. The Polar Journal, 8(1), 6883, https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2018.1468606 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M., & Stehberg, R. (2006). Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Record, 42, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M., & Stehberg, R. (2011). Geographic and technological influences on the location, nature and conservation of nineteenth century sealing sites in the South Shetland Islands. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Polar settlements – Location, techniques and conservation (pp. 8693). Fjellhamar: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Pearson, M., Stehberg, R., Zarankin, A., Senatore, M. X., & Gatica, C. (2008). Sealer’s sledge excavated on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Record, 44, 362364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M., Stehberg, R., Zarankin, A., Senatore, M. X., & Gatica, C. (2010). Conserving the oldest historic sites in the Antarctic: the challenges in managing the sealing sites in the South Shetland Islands. Polar Record, 46, 5764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pyne, S. (2003). The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Google Scholar
Richards, R. (2003). New market evidence on the depletion of southern fur seals: 1788–1833. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 30, 19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAT (Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty). (2017). Final report of the fortieth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Beijing, China, 2 May–1 June 2017. Retrieved from http://www.ats.aq/devAS/info_finalrep.aspx?lang=e&menu=2.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X. (2018a). Antarctic historical sealing industry and material things. In Headland, R. (Ed.), Historical Antarctic sealing industry. Scott Polar Research Institute, Occasional Publication (pp. 6171). Cambridge: Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X. (2018b). Arqueología y Turismo en las Islas Shetland del Sur, Antártida. Pasos Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 16(1), 99116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Senatore, M. X. (2019). Archaeologies in Antarctica from Nostalgia to capitalism: a Review. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-019-00499-7 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Senatore, M. X., Lüdecke, C., Nuviala, M. V., Arrebola, S., & Roldan, G. (2019). Antarctic heritage as individual experiences. Paper presented at SCAR SG-HASS Biannual Meeting, Ushuaia.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X., & Zarankin, A. (1999). Arqueología histórica y expansión capitalista. Prácticas cotidianas y grupos operarios en Península Byers, Isla Livingston de Islas Shetland del Sur. In Zarankin, A., & Acuto, F. (Eds.), Sed Non Satiata. Teoría Social en la Arqueología Latinoamericana Contemporánea (pp. 171188). Buenos Aires: Ediciones del Tridente.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X., & Zarankin, A. (2011). Widening the scope of the Antarctic heritage archaeology and the ugly, the dirty and the evil in Antarctic history. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Polar settlements – Location, techniques and conservation (pp. 5159). Fjellhamar: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X., & Zarankin, A. (2012). Tourism and the invisible historic sites in Antarctica. In: Heritage as a driver to development Part III Development as tourism (pp. 592601). Paris: ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Senatore, M. X., & Zarankin, A. (2014). Against the domain of master narratives: Archaeology and history in Antarctica. In Gnecco, C. & Langebaek, C. (Eds.), Against the typological tyranny in archaeology: A view from South America (pp. 121132). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soares, F., & Mota, M. (2017). Arqueologia digital abaixo de zero: uma proposta de mediação para a arqueologia antártica. Vestigios, 11(1), 2139 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soares, F., Nolasco, R., & Mota, M. (2018). Antarctic digital public archaeology. In Headland, R. (Ed.), Historical Antarctic sealing industry. Scott Polar Research Institute, Occasional Publication (pp. 139145). Cambridge: Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Stackpole, E. (1950). The Voyage of the Huron and the Huntress: The American Sealers and the Discovery of the Continent of Antarctica. Connecticut: Mystic Seaport Museum.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R. (1983). Terra Australis Incógnita: una ruta de investigación arqueológica. Serie Científica del Instituto Antártico Chileno, 30, 7786.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R. (2003). Arqueología Histórica Antártica: Aborıgenes sudamericanos en los mares subantárticos en el siglo XIX. Chile: Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R. (2004). Archaeologists document historical heritage in the South Shetlands. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Cultural heritage in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Monuments and Sites VIII Special Issue (pp. 6972). Lorenskog: IPHC-ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R., & Cabeza, A. (1984). Primera excavación de arqueología histórica Antártica. Boletín Antártico Chileno, 4, 1517.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R., & Cabeza, A. (1987). Comienzos de la Arqueología Histórica Antártica en el Sitio Cuatro Pircas. Revista Chilena de Antropología, 6, 83111.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R., & Lucero, V. (1985). Arqueología Histórica en la Isla Desolación. Evidencias de coexistencia entre cazadores de lobo de origen europeo y aborígenes del extremo sur americano, en la segunda década del siglo pasado. Serie Científica del Instituto Antártico Chileno, 46, 5981.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R., & Lucero, V. (1996). Excavaciones arqueológicas en Playa Yámana, Cabo Shirreff, Isla Livingston, Antártica. Serie Científica Instituto Antártico Chileno, 46, 5981.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R., Pearson, M., Zarankin, A., Senatore, M. X., & Gatica, C. (2008). Protection and preservation of the oldest sites of the Antarctic: the case of Fildes Peninsula and Byers Peninsula in the South Shetlands Islands. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Historical polar bases preservation and management, Monuments and Sites XIV Special Issue (pp. 8593). Lorenskog: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Stonehouse, B., & Snyder, J. M. (2010). Polar Tourism, an environmental perspective. Bristol: Channel View Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, J. H. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58(301), 236244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, N. (2011). The Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project: Technology, innovation & public engagement. In Barr, S. & Chaplin, P. (Eds.), Polar settlements – Location, techniques and conservation (pp. 8196). Fjellhamar: International Council on Monuments and Sites ICOMOS.Google Scholar
Zarankin, A., Hissa, S., Salerno, M., Froner, Y., Radicchi, G., Resende de Assis, L. G., & Batista, A. (2011). Paisagens em branco: Arqueologia e Antropologia Antárticas Avanços e desafios. Vestigios, 5(2), 1151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zarankin, A., & Senatore, M. X. (1996). Ocupación humana en tierras antárticas: una aproximación arqueológica. In Soplando el Viento. Actas III Jornadas de Arqueología de la Patagonia (pp. 629644). Neuquén and Buenos Aires: Universidad del Comahue e Instituto Nacional de Antropología Y Pensamiento Latinoamericano.Google Scholar
Zarankin, A., & Senatore, M. X. (1999). Arqueología en Antártida, estrategias, tácticas y los paisajes del capitalismo. In Desde el País de los Gigantes: perspectivas arqueológicas en Patagonia (pp. 315327). Río Gallegos: Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral.Google Scholar
Zarankin, A., & Senatore, M. X. (2000). Hasta el fin del Mundo. Arqueología en las Islas Shetland del Sur. El caso de Península Byers, Isla Livingston. Praehistoria, 3, 219236.Google Scholar
Zarankin, A., & Senatore, M. X. (2005). Archaeology in Antarctica: nineteenth-century capitalism expansion strategies. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 9, 4356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zarankin, A., & Senatore, M. X. (2007). Historias de un Pasado en Blanco: Arqueología Histórica Antártica. Belo Horizonte: Argumentum.Google Scholar