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Bangudae Petroglyphs

Korea's National Treasure No. 285, the Bangudae Petroglyphs, are located mainly on flat vertical rock faces around 8m wide and around 5m high on steep cliffs on the riverside of the Daegokcheon stream, a branch of the Taehwa River, which runs eastward and joins the East Sea at Ulsan. The surrounding ten rock faces have a small number of engravings as well. The rocks consist of shale and hornfels oriented toward the north and they shine for a while at sunset. As an overhanging cliff they are in the structure of a rock shelter.

Description

Three hundred and four representations can be seen, of which 166 figures are animals and 108 are unidentified motifs. Representations of cetaceans are the most frequent, being 14.4% of the figures. In terms of theme, the representations are either anthropomorphic, depicting the body or face of a human; zoomorphic, showing sea and land animals; hunting and fishing tools; and indeterminate markings whose themes or shapes are hard to identify.

The engravings of whales and deer were made in most cases by carving out the body, while those of land animals mostly consist of outlines and patterns drawn on the rock surface. Such difference suggest difference in the time of production, given the overlapping relationships of the depictions. At the site, cetaceans are most important, followed by deer and land animals in that order, and there are a small number of turtles, seals, fish, and birds.

Tools
Tools relating to hunting and fishing such as boats, floats, harpoons, fishing net, fish pounds, and bows provide information on the age of the rock art and livelihood of the time. This site also has scenes of whales and tigers being captured with a net. Although no prehistoric net has yet been excavated, fine marks of net on pottery discovered in the Dongsam-dong midden suggest that nets were widely used not only for fishing but also for hunting in those days. The site has scenes showing whaling activities in great detail. Around 5-17 people are on boats surrounding whales. The bows and sterns are semi-circular and are connected to a harpoon stuck into the body of whales and to floats hanging on a rope. The tools are almost identical to those used by natives for whaling today.

Dating
According to the results of an analysis of animal bones discovered in a shell midden in Ulsan and widespread along the southeastern coasts and of research on Ulsan Bay's archaeological environment, the site dates back to 7,000 to 3,500 years ago. Many relics related to the themes of the rock art were found at Neolithic sites, include deer pattern pottery, net pattern pottery and shell mask discovered in the Dongsam-dong Shell Midden in Busan, a figure with human faces in Osan-ri in Yangyang, a small clay wild pig excavated from the shell midden on Yokjido island of Tongyeong, the clay figure of a woman in Sinam-ri in Ulsan, and a small clay seal excavated from the shell midden in Sejuk-ri, Ulsan. Furthermore, a boat was excavated from the shell midden in Bibong-ri, Changnyeong, and during the Hwangseong-dong site excavation research project conducted by the Korea Archaeology and Art History Research Institute a whale bone stuck with a harpoon was found, which empirically proves whaling.

The layers which contain the bones of captured whales date back to 5500 to 4700 BP. Consequently, considering livelihoods in that period, hunting and fishing tools, related relics, and contemporary contents, the rock art seems to have been made between the early and mid-Neolithic era. Before the site was discovered, the first whaling was thought to have taken place between the 10th and 11th century.

From the abundant representations of marine animals, the site seems to be in close relationship with hunter-fishers attributed to the Neolithic era (between 8000 BP and 3500 BP). Consequently, the Bangudae site has the most ancient evidence of whaling worldwide and is considered highly important not only as a first whaling representation, but also for understanding prehistoric maritime culture in the northern Pacific area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangudae_Petroglyphs

CWA travels to The Petroglyphs of Bangudae
http://www.world-archaeology.com/world/asia/korea/cwa-travels-to-the-petroglyphs-of-bangudae.htm

Nearly a third of the animal figures represent whales, viewed from above, and identifiable from their flat backs and dorsal fin, most with their heads facing upward. Some appear horizontally, perhaps representing dead individuals. Three are vertical, apparently blowing at the surface, the primary way in which Korean whalers traditionally identified their prey. It is difficult to identify individual whale types, but several blowing examples display the characteristic double spouting of the baleen, a whale that grows to enormous size. Others show the deep skin-folds from the mouth to the navel that are typical of rorquals, allowing them to engorge large quantities of food and water in a single gulp. Seven large whale figures appear to be swimming together, one carrying its young on its back so that it can take in air. Several others are shown on their backs, their bodies divided into what appear to be segments – similar to the stylistic representations of organs and skeletons shown on Australian Aboriginal paintings, and reminiscent of the butchery cuts made by Inuit hunters in the Arctic.

Sardaka Wikimedia Commons
Aboriginal carvings, Bondi, Sydney19 February 2012
Whale or shark.

Bantry Bay
Large engraving site on the edge of the Garigal National Park, with a wide range of engravings, including animals, people, symbols, and a whale.

Gumbooya
Located in residential suburban Allambie heights, in a fenced off reserve with views over Sydney Harbour.
Includes an enormous whale and many smaller engravings.

Ray Norris: Sydnet Aboriginal Rock Carvings.
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/Ray.Norris/SydneyRockArt/public_list.htm

"Whale Fishing Fac simile of a Woodcut in the Cosmographie Universelle of Thevet in folio Paris 1574" by Unknown - Project Gutenberg. Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons..

wikipedia: Prehistoric to medieval times

Humans have engaged in whaling since prehistoric times. The oldest known method of catching cetaceans is simply to drive them ashore by placing a number of small boats between the animal and the open sea and to frighten them with noise and activity, herding them towards shore in an attempt to beach them. Typically, this was used for small species, such as Pilot Whales, Belugas, Porpoises and Narwhals. This is described in A Pattern of Islands (1952) by British administrator Arthur Grimble, who lived in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands for several decades.

The next step was to employ a drogue (a semi-floating object) such as a wooden drum or an inflated sealskin which was tied to an arrow or a harpoon. Once the arrow or harpoon had been shot into a whale's body it was hoped that, after a period of time, the buoyancy and drag from the drogue would cause the whale to tire, allowing it to be approached and killed. Several cultures around the world practiced whaling with drogues, including the Ainu, Inuit, Native Americans, and the Basque people of the Bay of Biscay. Bangudae Petroglyphs, an archaeological evidence from Ulsan in South Korea suggests that drogues, harpoons and lines were being used to kill small whales as early as 6000 BC.^[1] Petroglyphs (rock carvings) unearthed by researchers at the Museum of Kyungpook National University show Sperm Whales, Humpback Whales and North Pacific Right Whales surrounded by boats. Similarly-aged cetacean bones were also found in the area, reflecting the importance of whales in the prehistoric diet of coastal people.

A description of the assistance a little European technology could bring to skilled indigenous whale hunters is given in the memoir of John R. Jewitt, an Englishman blacksmith who spent three years as a captive of the Mowachaht (Nuu-chah-nulth/ Nootka) people in 1802-1805. Jewitt also mentions the importance of whale meat and oil to the diet. Whaling was integral to the cultures and economies of other indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest as well, notably the Makah and Klallam. For other groups, most famously the Haida, whales appear prominently as totems.

[Boats are designed to be regularly launched and landed, and spending a considerable time of their life ashore.
Ships, one launched, are designed to spend the vast majority of their life afloat, except for the necessary time in dry-dock for major repairs.
As such, boats are a common tender of persons and freight between ships and to and from the shore.

A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to work or travel on water. Small boats are typically found on inland (lakes) or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed for operation from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a vessel small enough to be carried aboard another vessel (a ship). Another less restrictive definition is a vessel that can be lifted out of the water. Some definitions do not make a distinction in size, as bulk freighters 1,000 feet (300 m) long on the Great Lakes are called oreboats. For reasons of naval tradition, submarines are usually referred to as 'boats' rather than 'ships', regardless of their size and shape.]

The general term whaleboat covers a wide range of craft from diverse locations and in various designs and construction, and not all were used to hunt whales.
Implicit in the term is the indication of robust use; while it may not be called upon to do so, its design and construction should be capable of performing all the task's of whaling in the open sea.

At some point, these whaleboats are essential to the plot of any tale of the sea and they appear regularly in works of fiction, from R.L. Stevenson's Treasure Island to Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.
In maritime history they were essential tools in the preparation of the charts of James Cook, his mapping of the St. Lawrence and the navigation of Australia's Great Barrier Reef are just two prominent examples.
Their role as the work-horses of the world's navies continued until the mid-20th century when they were was supplanted by the introduction of reliable marine engines.
One example, the Montagu Whaler was introduced to the British Navy in the 1890s, was adopted by the navies of the British Empire and others, and served around the globe well into the 1960s.

The specific term whaleboat, designed and used in the hunting of whales, is both a an early influence on the development of the general class and, during the 18th century, a highly specialised light-weight craft for use in the off-shore commercial extraction of whale oil.
The success of this process was such that some species were hunted to extinction.
This is the whaleboat of Melville's Moby Dick.
The lightweight and high performance whaleboat now only exists in its distant relation, the Australia surfboat; originally developed as a rescue craft, today it is only used competitively.
Both meanings are widely used across all media;however the specific term is usually indicated by its context.

Generally, whaleboats are characterised by their wooden construction, dating back to antiquity, and they are propelled by oars by a crew of usually between four and eight.
One of the crew manned the larger steer-oar, located at the stern and they provide the dominant method of navigation.
The required load (the weight of the crew, plus gear and rigging, plus any expected catch) regulates the approximate size of the vessel, for a crew of eight it was usually less than 30 ft and with a beam of less than 7 ft.
These dimensions ensured that the crew were usually capable of launching and landing the vessel in diverse locations and under unfavourable conditions.
Classically, the plan is mostly a symmetrical foil with pointed bow and stern ensuring structural integrity, it was also said that this maximised the boat's manoeuvrability.
Whaleboats with transoms are rare before the late 1800s.
The more seaworthy designs feature significant symmetrical rocker, with the shear about 2.5 ft and the bow and stern about 3.5 ft.
The curve in the hull, while less effective in benign conditions, is far more comfortable in chop or swell and the exaggerated bow is a common feature of all craft that have to regularly negotiate the surf zone.

Critically in the success of the (whale)boat over its precedent, the canoe, is based on the adoption of the levered oar.
In narrower boats the rowers were off-set, a wider beam could see the rowers seated and working in tandem.
The row-lock, or fulcrum, of itself and by making a manageable extended shaft, significantly enhances the power and efficiency of the rowers in comparison with an equivalent crew paddling in a similar-sized canoe.
It is most probable that the oar was developed only after an extended period of familiarity with the hinged stern oar, used to steer rafts and canoes on extended voyages for aeons.
This technical innovation also changed the social interaction of the crew.
Where as the crew of the raft or canoe, no doubt, operated under some recognised leader-captain-navigator; the crew of the boat faced the stern when under-way and their immediate fate depended entirely on the skill and experience of their steers-man.
That idea of the ship as a state and the ruler as the helmsman or captain is a very old one in European culture.
It is frequently used by Cicero, and indeed our word governor comes from the Latin for helmsman- gubenator.

Whaleboats were not only propelled by oars, whenever possible some type of sail was used to take advantage of a following wind.
Sailing performance was steadily improved by experimentation a variety of rigs, and by the 19th century, performance into the wind was further improved with the widespread adoption of the (retractable) centreboard.
While whaleboat is regularly depicted across the various media with its crew valiantly stroking shore-ward, or frantically escaping sea-ward from imminent danger, its sailing capabilities are rarely featured.

Construction
clinker lap-strake or carvel

Rowing

Whaleboats, Ship's Boats and Longboats to 1890.
With the introduction of steam power, ships became more reliable and manoeuvrable and the need for small ancillary craft was significantly reduced, particularly the task of watering as steam vessels produced their own water.
In the age of sail, small craft were indispensable in setting and weighing the anchor, depth sounding, and transferring crew, passengers and stores from shore to ship; the requisition of fresh water and wood for the kitchens a constant chore.
In battle, they were used for transferring officers, evacuating the crews of sinking ships, towing off enemy fire ships, and in supporting amphibious landings.
They were essential tools for accurate navigation, their role in James Cook's mapping of the St. Lawrence and Australia's Great Barrier Reef just two notable examples.
When a sailing ship was totally becalmed and in danger, it was common practise to launch the boats and attempt to row the vessel to safety.
When all was lost, the ship's boats served as the best means of self-rescue.
The most famous, seaworthy and manoeuvrable boats were the whaleboats, often dispatched from a parent ship to capture whales in the extreme conditions of the off-shore fishery.

Most ships boats were carried on-board, and although larger boats were towed this was generally not done in open seas, and they came in a wide variety of designs and sizes depending on the required function.
By the end of the 18th century, British Royal Navy designs included the barge, cutter, galley, gig, jollyboat, launch, longboat, pinnace, shallop, wherry and yawl.
While steam reduced the importance and reliance on ancillary boats, other technological developments saw a reduction in the number of different designs.
The introduction of davits to launch and retrieve boats in the early 1800s favoured smaller craft which could more easily be hoisted aboard.
On passenger liners and freighters the ships' boats were carried as lifeboats, and, on modern battleships, the clear arc of fire required by turret mounted guns further limited the number of multiple davits available for mulptiple boat designs.

The Montagu Whaler, 1890.
The British Royal Navy determined that single multi-purpose boat was required and proposals relating to a suitable hull and rig by Rear Admiral Victor Alexander Montagu (1841-1915) saw the introduction of the Montagu Whaler as the standard design for the British Royal Navy.
It served around the world from the 1890s to the 1960s, and introduced generations of Navy recruits to the basics of seamanship.
Largely derived from the commercial whaleboat; it was double ended, around 28 feet and powered by oars or sails.
These craft had a proven reputation when negotiating the surf, both on the beaches of West Africa, in serving the slave trade, and across the coral reefs of the Pacific islands.
Clinker built, its ancient ancestor is the Viking longboat.

Also see:

Catalogue: JBMM Montagu Whaler #600	Whaleboat : References, Appendix, Notes.
Jervis Bay Whaleboat Crew : Project 2015-2019	JBWC : Information for Members

Jervis Bay Whaleboat Crew : Small Wooden Boat Fleet of the JBMM