Prehistoric and Ancient Historic Interactions
29
were essential intermediaries. According to some authors, among the more prized
trade objects originating from Yucatán was tortoiseshell, a product that the Aztecs
took back home (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 29).
At the time preceding the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán peninsula, in the
early sixteenth century, there were reports of Maya warriors carrying shields made
of marine turtle shells (Diaz del Castillo, 1908). Just after the conquest, Friar Diego
de Landa recorded the great size and good taste of marine turtles; eggs were also
mentioned, but it was not specified whether those were also eaten (Gates, 1937: 99;
Tozzer, 1941: 192; Pagden, 1975: 145; Landa, 2001: 136). Shortly after the conquest
it was also reported by the Spanish chroniclers that turtles were among the various
marine animals taken from the Gulf of Mexico by the peoples of present-day Tabasco
state (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 30). After the Spanish became established in presentday Mexico, it was stated that “turtle fishing was a lucrative industry” and that a
variety of highly prized items were manufactured from tortoiseshell by the Tixchel
people for the Spaniards during the latter half of the sixteenth century and into the
seventeenth century (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 244, 302, 329, 336). In addition, at
the beginning of the Colonial era, Oviedo described the use of dragnets to capture
turtles in the new Spanish colony (Wing, 1974: 187).
1.5 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
Marine turtles have captivated the human imagination for millennia, for many and
diverse reasons. Textual references to turtles, including marine turtles, seem to occur
in many civilizations, and date back millennia. Providing nutritional, economic, and
spiritual sustenance to peoples around the world, these marine reptiles are part of
the cultural fabric of many coastal communities. There is no question that human
societies and human cultures have been impacted by these animals. Whether there
have been critical events in human prehistory and ancient history directly influenced
by marine turtles is moot. Scholarly discourses on the relationship between societies,
culture, and environment, and how they relate to such basic activities as acquiring
food, are nothing new; classical Greek authors, from before the time of Christ,
deliberated this issue (Burstein, 1989: 29). If marine turtles provided critical sources
of nutrients, for example at remote settlements on desert stretches of the Arabian
coast, or on isolated islands of the Caribbean, it is possible that access to these
reptiles made the difference between starvation and survival for certain communities.
Given the importance that some marine turtle products have had in ancient and
prehistoric trade, for example tortoiseshell throughout the Indian Ocean, or across
North America, it also seems that marine turtles may have provided the raw materials
on which certain ancient or prehistoric institutions were founded or sustained. There
is no doubt that marine turtles, at different places and in different times, have enriched
the human spirit in countless ways.
Chapter 12 examines the contemporary aspects of human–turtle interactions,
through the lens of cultural and social analysis, while Chapter 14 delves into the
philosophical aspects of value systems related to the ways that contemporary
societies view marine turtles and the habitats on which they depend. As is made
1123_C01.fm Page 29 Friday, November 15, 2002 11:13 AM
29
were essential intermediaries. According to some authors, among the more prized
trade objects originating from Yucatán was tortoiseshell, a product that the Aztecs
took back home (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 29).
At the time preceding the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán peninsula, in the
early sixteenth century, there were reports of Maya warriors carrying shields made
of marine turtle shells (Diaz del Castillo, 1908). Just after the conquest, Friar Diego
de Landa recorded the great size and good taste of marine turtles; eggs were also
mentioned, but it was not specified whether those were also eaten (Gates, 1937: 99;
Tozzer, 1941: 192; Pagden, 1975: 145; Landa, 2001: 136). Shortly after the conquest
it was also reported by the Spanish chroniclers that turtles were among the various
marine animals taken from the Gulf of Mexico by the peoples of present-day Tabasco
state (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 30). After the Spanish became established in presentday Mexico, it was stated that “turtle fishing was a lucrative industry” and that a
variety of highly prized items were manufactured from tortoiseshell by the Tixchel
people for the Spaniards during the latter half of the sixteenth century and into the
seventeenth century (Scholes and Roys, 1968: 244, 302, 329, 336). In addition, at
the beginning of the Colonial era, Oviedo described the use of dragnets to capture
turtles in the new Spanish colony (Wing, 1974: 187).
1.5 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
Marine turtles have captivated the human imagination for millennia, for many and
diverse reasons. Textual references to turtles, including marine turtles, seem to occur
in many civilizations, and date back millennia. Providing nutritional, economic, and
spiritual sustenance to peoples around the world, these marine reptiles are part of
the cultural fabric of many coastal communities. There is no question that human
societies and human cultures have been impacted by these animals. Whether there
have been critical events in human prehistory and ancient history directly influenced
by marine turtles is moot. Scholarly discourses on the relationship between societies,
culture, and environment, and how they relate to such basic activities as acquiring
food, are nothing new; classical Greek authors, from before the time of Christ,
deliberated this issue (Burstein, 1989: 29). If marine turtles provided critical sources
of nutrients, for example at remote settlements on desert stretches of the Arabian
coast, or on isolated islands of the Caribbean, it is possible that access to these
reptiles made the difference between starvation and survival for certain communities.
Given the importance that some marine turtle products have had in ancient and
prehistoric trade, for example tortoiseshell throughout the Indian Ocean, or across
North America, it also seems that marine turtles may have provided the raw materials
on which certain ancient or prehistoric institutions were founded or sustained. There
is no doubt that marine turtles, at different places and in different times, have enriched
the human spirit in countless ways.
Chapter 12 examines the contemporary aspects of human–turtle interactions,
through the lens of cultural and social analysis, while Chapter 14 delves into the
philosophical aspects of value systems related to the ways that contemporary
societies view marine turtles and the habitats on which they depend. As is made
1123_C01.fm Page 29 Friday, November 15, 2002 11:13 AM