Mysterious Bones Suggests The Romans Had A Whaling Industry We Knew Nothing About
By Rachel Baxter
11 Jul 2018, 12:57
An analysis of mysterious bones from 2,000 years ago suggests that two species of whale, now confined to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, once thrived in the Mediterranean Sea. What’s more, the age and location of the bones pose an intriguing question: did the Romans have a flourishing whaling industry that we know nothing about?
A team of researchers looked at 10 ancient bones, all believed to be from whales, to try to determine what species they belonged to. The bones came from five Roman or pre-Roman archaeological sites – one on Spain’s north-western coast and four around the Strait of Gibraltar. The findings are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/mysterious-bones-suggests-the-romans-had-a-whaling-industry-we-knew-nothing-about/
