The Shore Whalers of Western Australia: Historical Archaeology of a Maritime Frontier
Martin Gibbs
Sydney University Press
ISBN:
9781920899622
Every winter between 1836 to 1879 small wooden boats left the bays of southwest
Western Australia to hunt for migrating Humpback and Right whales. In the early
years of European settlement these small shore whaling parties and the whale oil
they produced were an important part of the colonial economy, yet over time their
significance diminished until they virtually vanished from the documentary record.
Using archival research and archaeological evidence, The Shore Whalers of Western
Australia examines the history and operation of this almost forgotten industry on
the remote maritime frontier of the British Empire and the role of the whalers in the
history of early contact between Europeans and Aboriginal people.
Dr Martin Gibbs is a senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology of the
University of Sydney and the President of the Australasian Society for Historical
Archaeology.
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