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UIDB/04666/2020 UIDP/04666/2020 Marine Lexicon is a cooperation project between Portugal and Norway, funded by EEA Grants, aiming at the construction of a thesaurus of European common names of marine mammals (cetaceans, seals and sea lions, and sirenian) and symbolic elements (sea monsters, hybrid beings, folklore creatures) represented in the early modern age (15th-18th centuries). This project established and reinforced Portuguese-Norwegian networking research on historical whaling, sealing, and marine mammals’ appropriation, trade and use from medieval and the early modern period. Documentary and visual sources for the European and Transatlantic Natural History, including saga literature, diaries, treaties, leaflets, maps and travel literatures will be used to dig for past information about local species and names. Artefacts made of parts (bones and other) of the animals, and material from the zooarchaeology/quaternary zoology will be considered too. Words associated with activities of use and extraction, and animal distribution (products, objects, artefacts, toponomy) are also part of the study. We will present the first results to construct an open access online database - the Marine Lexicon - as a new and future tool on the field of marine environmental history, providing a better understanding of the significance of these animals for different societies during this period. publishersversion published

UID/HIS/04666/2013 The UNESCO Chair “Ocean’s Cultural Heritage” held by NOVA University (Lisbon, Portugal) since 2016 is unique worldwide and brings to the spotlight the importance of obtaining knowledge on and of the management of tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage of the open oceans, underwater realm and coastlines. Supported on a transatlantic network of researchers and their respective scientific and educational activities, topics under the umbrella of the early modern history of oceans such as underwater archaeology, maritime cultural landscapes, marine environmental history, cultures and societies, environments and resources management, are to be addressed and developed. These themes are part of the current international agendas for science, development and cooperation, and the UNESCO Chairs programme offers the adequate framework for the establishment of networking, for new common and integrated projects. This Chair also enhances the UNESCO principles of knowledge sharing, social solidarity, and establishing the basis for the development of good practices. As such, social sciences and humanities can contribute to inform on multiple societal challenges such as the changing conditions of marine ecosystems, climate change, heritage preservation and, also, ocean literacy. Here we are presenting the insights and motivations to develop such a UNESCO Chair and a related networking European project, both including components of research, education and outreach. Not aiming at presenting research or a global review, we intend to present main goals of the UNESCO Chair “Ocean’s Cultural Heritage” and to highlight how different disciplines can contribute to the construction of knowledge and preservation of memory about the Atlantic since early modern times. publishersversion published

Uma história do oceano deve contar com as dinâmicas oceanográficas e ecológicas, para além das humanas. No contexto da época moderna, as expansões europeias são o cenário para a construção das narrativas históricas. Assim, argumentamos que estes processos alteraram de forma profunda a ligação entre pessoas e o resto da natureza; que as ilhas foram espaços ímpares de suporte e intercâmbio; que as relações entre os povos europeus e não-europeus foram de contacto e confronto e estimularam a transferência de conhecimento; e que o oceano fomentou interações socioculturais e o aparecimento de novas sociedades a nível global. À luz das correntes historiográficas das Humanidades para os Oceanos, o oceano enquanto entidade é considerado como agente co-construtor de narrativas partilhadas por diferentes realidades socioculturais e ambientais. publishersversion published