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Issue 71July 2003ContentsnewsNew Neolithic settlements found on Orkney Medieval double watermill found at Stafford Iron Age hilltop ‘town’ found at Margate Prehistoric landscape of settlement, ritual and magic Coins reveal how Hannibal bankrupted the Romans featuresUnderground warfare Great sites Islands in the Neolithic Tale of the limpet lettersRoman burials, medieval fields, and Saxons in Scotland issuesGeorge Lambrick on the looting of antiquities in Iraq Peter EllisOn archaeology and today's mentality of hurry, hurry, hurry booksA History of Childhood by Colin Heywood Conserving landscapes reviewed by Christopher Catling Farming in the First Millennium AD by Peter Fowler CBA updatefavourite findsPaul Pettitt on an antiquarian book found in a junkshop
ISSN 1357-4442 Editor Simon Denison |
featuresThe tale of the limpetLimpets, often found in Mesolithic rubbish dumps, are normally derided as ‘famine food’, only edible in emergencies. But there’s far more to them than that, writes Caroline Wickham-Jones This is a little tale of a much-maligned, humble shellfish, a regular component of Mesolithic middens across Britain, but one that is typically derided as nothing more than 'famine food' or fish bait - something too unpalatable to be eaten out of choice by humans. I write, of course, of the limpet. Limpets are not much used in Britain today, but their persistence on Mesolithic midden sites, as well as on more recent middens, suggests that their role must once have been much wider than a food of last resort. It is true that shellfish generally, and more specifically limpets, were clearly a food that could be relied upon in times of hardship, especially in recent centuries. Isobel Grant, in Highland Folkways (1961), records the use of shellfish as a famine food after bad harvests in Islay, Canna and Skye in the mid-18th century. In his book, The Northern Isles (1978), Alexander Fenton notes that limpets were such an important staple for the poor that they became a factor in the kelp riots in Stronsay, Orkney, in 1762. People complained that the stripping of kelp from the shore had deprived the limpets of their shade from the sun, so that they fell from the rocks - thus depriving the poor of a vital foodstuff. The leaders of the riot were fined, and the kelp harvest continued. However, limpets were not just a food for the poor, but an ingredient of many coastal diets in early modern times. In the late 17th century, Martin Martin reports their use as a baby food on Jura, and in Ireland in the early 19th century the Ordnance Survey notes their use as a staple in Burt and Inch. There are still people who eat limpets today. Judy Urquhart and Eric Ellington recorded the harvest of limpets on Eigg in the 1980s both for eating at home and for sale to the mainland. Limpets might not be very palatable to modern tastes but John Love, in Rum: a landscape without figures (2001) comments that they have twice the calorific value of oysters. In any case, do limpets really taste so bad? Recipes for limpets have been published in Scottish cookery books during the 20th century, and you can find several limpet recipes on the web today. The website International Recipes Online recommends pounding the meat from a limpet to tenderise it before sautéing it for a few seconds on each side. Meanwhile, the site E-Chefs.net recommends bringing limpets to the boil in stock (seaweed, ginger, vegetables, and herbs). The broth may be used for sauce or soup. In Hawaii, limpets are a delicacy, eaten in many dishes including limpet ravioli with goat's cheese, mushrooms, and steamed lotus seeds. In 1986 limpets cost as much as $125 a gallon. Limpets have also been employed in medicine. Martin Martin notes that in the Western Isles, limpet broth was used by nursing mothers to increase their milk. Limpet shells were used in medicine to regulate the dose. In Australia, the essence of limpet shells is used in traditional medicine as a tonic that strengthens character and assists relationship problems. And at the cutting edge of scientific medicine today, extracts from keyhole limpets are playing an important part in the development of vaccinations and treatments for skin cancer. Limpets have also been used over the centuries as charms. St Constantine's day on 9th March was traditionally celebrated by eating limpet pie. Until recent times, a limpet shell had to be used in Pembrokeshire to gather water from St Govan's well, which might then be used as a cure for poor sight, lameness and rheumatism. In Galway Bay, Ireland, a live limpet or periwinkle used to be placed at the corners of the house to ensure successful fishing. As for more routine tasks, their use as fishing bait is frequently mentioned in Scotland. The Shetland Museums Service website illustrates a limpet pick, used in recent times to remove limpets from the rocks but remarkably akin to those debatable objects found by Mesolithic archaeologists and known as 'limpet hammers'. Perhaps limpet shells were also used for Mesolithic jewellery? Many people wear shell jewellery today and it is likely that they did so too in the past. Limpet jewellery, including gold and silver replicas, can be bought from several websites. In the early 19th century oval hair ornaments made of keyhole limpets were a classic feature of Canaliño culture in the Channel Islands of California. The key question is whether there is any evidence for the human alteration of limpet shells in prehistoric British middens - and this is complicated by the activities of various organisms that bore into limpet shells, making it hard to tell whether perforated shells have a natural or a human explanation. At Carding Mill Bay in Argyll, however, archaeologists recorded limpet shells with holes that had been drilled from the inside, indicating they were man-made, and worked limpet shells are known from prehistoric Orkney. Evidence from other sites is uncertain, but it may become less so as techniques advance. There is good evidence for the perforation of cowrie shells, and in aesthetic terms the limpet is not without a certain charm. Caroline Wickham-Jones is a freelance archaeologist specialising in the Mesolithic |
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