Everything about Smeerenburg totally explained
The settlement of
Smeerenburg on
Amsterdam Island in north-west
Svalbard, originated with
Dutch whalers in 1617: one of Europe's northernmost outposts.
During the first intensive phase of the
Spitsbergen whale fishery, Smeerenburg served as the centre of operations in the north. (The name
Smeerenburg, in the
Dutch language, literally means "
blubber town"). The image at right shows the concretized remnants of whale oil that built up around the large (ca. 2-3m diameter) copper kettles in which the blubber was rendered. Leftover blubber was used as fuel for the fires.
The summer population of Smeerenburg has been estimated by the Dutch archeologist Louwrens Hacquebord (1987) to have numbered around 200.
Around 1660, with the decline of
whaling, the settlement became abandoned.
In 1973 the ruins of Smeerenburg became part of
Norway's North-West Spitsbergen National Park.
Further Information
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