The Use of Avian Resources by the Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin Island (Indian Ocean)

Abstract

On 31 July 1761, the Utile, a French slave ship from the Compagnie française des Indes, illegally loaded with Malagasy slaves, was shipwrecked on the desert islet of Tromelin. Two months after the disaster, the French crew left the island on a boat constructed from the wreckage and abandoned the slaves. Fifteen years later, Chevalier de Tromelin rescued eight survivors. An archaeological excavation recently conducted by M. Guérout and T. Romon revealed how the forgotten slaves adapted themselves to this hostile environment. The Malagasy survived using natural resources of the islet and material from the Utile. This paper, based on the archaeozoological analysis of almost 18 000 bird bones, focuses on their use of avian resources. The Malagasy survivors captured numerous individuals from a breeding colony of sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus, as indicated by the presence of medullary bone and immature birds. Cut marks and localised burning at the bone extremities testify to the cooking method used. Under-representation of the bones from the distal extremity of the wing, together with the rare written archives collected after the rescue, give evidence of the utilisation of feathers as raw material. An estimate of the total number of terns and eggs that were collected, compared with historical and modern ornithological observations, allows us to discuss the consequences of human predation on the disappearance of the sooty tern colony from Tromelin Island.

Seabird recovery and vegetation dynamics after Norway rat eradication at Tromelin Island, western Indian Ocean

“…They lived there for 15 years and fed on marine turtles, fish and seabirds. Finally in November 1776 the Chevalier de Tromelin, captain of the ship La Dauphine, rescued eight survivors including seven women and an 8-month-old baby (Laroulandie and Lefevre 2013).…”

Sexual dimorphism among Mesoamerican turkeys: A key for understanding past husbandry

“…It constitutes a supply of minerals used during the production of eggshell (Driver, 1982;Lentacker and Van Neer, 1996;Rick, 1975). Unlike what was previously thought (Rick, 1975), medullary bone is present in almost all anatomical elements and can be abundant even in the most pneumatized ones, such as humeri (Laroulandie and Lefèvre, 2014;Lentacker and Van Neer, 1996).…”

Fishing for survival: The forgotten slaves of Tromelin Island (Indian Ocean)

“…Given the total number of fish remains found in the excavations (NR = 4,282), it appears that fish were not the primary source of protein for the castaways but that birds and sea turtles also played an important role (Laroulandie & Lefèvre, , and unpublished data). However, these figures must be put into perspective by considering the large sizes of some of these fishes: a grouper of at least 30 kg, jacks of 20 to 25 kg, and snappers and parrotfishes of about 10 kg, as well as one or two sailfishes of about 50 kg.…”

“…The archaeological study of Tromelin, the extreme conditions prevailing on the island and the peculiar human context related to the shipwreck of l'Utile , offers a rare opportunity to enrich our knowledge on the survival behaviours of the displaced Malagasy people and their ability to rapidly adapt to hostile conditions. The diet of the survivors relied almost exclusively on nesting green sea turtles, colonies of terns (Laroulandie & Lefèvre, , and unpublished data), and marine fishes. The aim of this ichthyoarchaeological study is to document the fish exploitation strategies implemented by the shipwrecked survivors.…”