Image ID: 25303

Whale jaw bones - Burton Joyce

Courtesy of Reg Baker

Between old and new burial grounds
Burton_Joyce
England

Whale jaw bones were sometimes used to decorate the graves of sailors who had worked on whaling sailing ships in the Georgian and Victorian periods, at a time when whale oil was vital for lamp oil and cosmetics, and whale bone and balleen used for the bendy supports in corsets. These jaw bones seen here were located between the grave yard, and so, perhaps, were once used as a grave marker ?. It is unusual to find them so far from the sea. Whitby was once a thriving whaling port, and in that port if a pair of whale jaw bones were triced up to the mast of returning ships then the waiting wives of Whitby knew that the ship was full.

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KeywordsWhalejawbonessailorwhalinggraveyardburialgroundshedgeskeletontreesstepsarchway

Burton Joyce Library