Additional Material to “Aging dried shark specimens used as decorative objects”
Presented at the 1st ICAZ Medieval Period Working Group Meeting (28.09.2022-30.09.2022, Bryggens Museum - Bymuseet i Bergen)
Pollerspöck Jürgen1 & Straube Nicolas2
1Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Münchhausenstraße 21, 81247 Munich, Germany
2University Museum of Bergen, Department of Natural History, Realfagbygget, Allegaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Poster (download)
Abstract
In this study we conduct literature research of medieval zoological and specifically ichthyological literature which may be the source of motivation for specific ways of mounting dried shark specimens located in several towns in Southern Germany and Austria. German naturalist Conrad Gessner was the first around 1550 ad who described all at that time known plant and animal life in books comprising compendia on animals in general, birds and fish translated from Latin to German. The German compendia were widely distributed and frequently used. At the same time, first natural cabinets were established, comparable to first zoological museum collections. In our study, we identify the shark species based on tooth and general body morphology in all mounted specimens available (N=6) as Lamna nasus (Porbeagle shark) and conclude that a drawing of a shark in Conrad Gessner’s compendium ‘Fischbuch’ (fish book), published in 1575, may be the motivation of the distinct mounting of the specimens. This would set a maximum age range of origin of the specimens to approximately 450 years. As future perspective we plan to make use of stable isotope analysis to review our hypothesis.
Introduction
A first comprehensive inventory of animal life was composed by Aristoteles 400 bc (ancient Greek Περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστορίαι:‚Zoology‘). For several centuries, it remained the single available reference. Not until the medieval ages Aristoteles’ work was translated into several other languages including Latin and Arabian (Filius, 2007; Lulofs, 1992). Conrad Gessner was the first around 1550 ad who described all at that time known plant and animal life on 4500 pages. Later, the originally Latin-written book was translated to German in several compendia. The ‘Vogelbuch’ (bird book) was released in 1557 followed by the ‘Thierbuch’ (animal book) in 1563 and the ‘Fischbuch’ (fish book) in 1575. The latter comprising several figure drawings made it one of the most used zoological references of its time in German-speaking areas. At the same time, first natural cabinets were established, comparable to first zoological museum collections including stuffed and preserved animal specimens. Over the next centuries, several hundred of such ancestors of today’s natural history collections were mounted. Dried shark specimen preparations are also known from this period (z.B. Kunstkammer Erzherzog Ferdinand II, 1529-1595) (Pollerspöck & Bauernfeind, 2021).
Material & Methods
We conducted comprehensive research on available medieval zoological and specifically ichthyological literature in the German-speaking areas where dried and mounted shark specimens were located (Figure 2). We further identify all specimens as Lamna nasus (Porbeagle shark) based on tooth morphology and general morphological characters which were still visible and interpretable on the mounted specimens (n=6).
Results and Discussion
Figure 1 depicts dried shark specimens from the German town Pfreimd. Tooth and body morphology allows to identify it as Lamna nasus (Porbeagle shark). Similar exhibition specimens of the same species are known from several other localities in Southern Germany and Austria (additional material). The specimens share a similar appearance which is notably similar to one of the figures depicting a shark shown in Conrad Gessner’s ‘Thierbuch’, i.e. widely opened mouths and an unnaturally upwards curved spine and tail. No details regarding origin and age of the sharks shown in Pfreimd are known. We wee able to locate a newspaper article from 1865 which mentions their existence. It is noteworthy that all such preparations were located in German-speaking areas. We speculate that the widely distributed German compendium ‘Fischbuch’ which includes the figure of a shark in notably similar display of the mounted specimens (Gessner 1575, p.174) served as basis for the way the shark specimens were mounted. That would mean tat the dried specimens have a minimum age of 464 (Latin version of Gassner’s book) and 447 years (publication of Gessner’s ‘Fischbuch’). As future perspective we plan to make use of stable isotope analysis to review our hypothesis.
References
Aristoteles (4th century BC), Historia Animalium
Filius, L. (2007), The Arabic transmission of the Historia Animalium of Aristotle. In: Arnoud Vrolijk, Jan P. Hogendijk (Hrsg.): O ye Gentlemen. Arabic Studies on Science and Literary Culture, Leiden 2007, pp. 25–33
Gessner, C. (1558), Historia animalium liber IV qui est de piscium et aquatalium natura, Zürich, p. 207. (online : https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN472755935?tify={%22pages%22:[247],%22panX%22:0.52,%22panY%22:0.698,%22view%22:%22info%22,%22zoom%22:0.374})
Gessner, C. (1575), Fischbuch: das ist ein kurtze, doch vollkommene Beschreybung aller Fischen so in d. Meer u. süssen Wasseren, Seen, Flüssen, oder anderen Bächen jr Wonung habend sampt jrer waren conterfactur ..., Zürich (Froschauer) p. 174 (online :https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb11200261?page=174)
Lulofs, H.J.D. (1992), Preface. In: Aafke M. I. van Oppenraaij (Hrsg.): Aristotle, De animalibus. Michael Scot’s Arabic-Latin Translation, Part 3: Books XV–XIX: Generation of Animals, Leiden 1992.
Pollerspöck, J. & Bauernfeind, R. (2021), Die Haie von Pfreimd. Der Stadtturm, 37, 89–106.
Material (all figured sharks are Porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus)):
- “Pfreimder Haie”, deposited in the City Hall of Pfreimd, Schwandorf district, Bavaria, Germany
- “Karlstadter Hai“, deposited in the City Hall of Karlstadt, Main-Spessart district, Bavaria, Germany
- “Bregenzer Hai”, deposited in the Castle Gate of Bregenz, Province of Vorarlberg, Austria
- “Salzburger Hai”, deposited in the “Schatz-Durchhaus” (Passage House) of Salzburg, Province of Salzburg, Austria
- "Hamburger Hai", deposited in the Altonaer Museum in Hamburg, "Jonah and the whale / in the belly of the fish", image (http://www.museen-sh.de/Objekt/DE-MUS-058811/lido/alt-e00074027)
