"All of Them Live in the Sea – and Die in the Sea": A Tale about the Amphibious Fishermen

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Port of Call: Archaeologies of Labor and Movement through Ports", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

It’s the late 19th century - globalization, commerce, industry, a world that moves faster, goes further, demands more. The “self” disappears in favour of a human mass. On the other side of the picture are the fishermen. An amphibious animal, simple life, simple costumes, a different notion of time, a know-how that surpasses generations. When the men return from the sea the rest is up to the women. They take care of the children and the house, collect and sell the fish, mend the nets… and spend day after day roaming the beaches, waiting for the sea to return what is so unfairly took from them. What is left? How can archaeology deal with this past?

This paper is born from a book, “The Fishermen”, by Raul Brandão and debates the use of literature in archaeological theory. It links archaeology and literature in search of these people and their lives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Port of Call: Archaeologies of Labor and Movement through Ports

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Contact(s): Nicole Haddow