Louise Firth is an author.
The limpet doesn't draw much attention. Most of us remember them from childhood, they were tenacious little creatures that were impossible to prise off. The cone-shaped animal has an important part in the development of humans across the globe.
limpets have long been important to humans as food, cultural symbols, offerings in religious and spiritual rituals, and even currency.
From ancient to modern.
limpets are seen as unfashionable and underused, despite being rich in vitamins and minerals.
Our closest ancient relatives, including Neanderthals, were the ancestors of modern humans who used limpets for food for hundreds of thousands of years. limpets were an important part of the diet of Middle Stone Age people.
The evolution of the large, complex brain of modern humans can be traced back to the switch to a seafood diet which is rich in Omega fatty acids.
Modern humans used to follow coastal routes so they could easily access a year-round source of food.
limpets were eaten all over the world and were often the dominant shellfish in people's diet. The Greeks and Romans were known to have eaten them.
Highly profitable commercial operations in Hawaii, California, Mexico, Chile and the Azores have collapsed due to over-exploitation. In places like the Azores and Hawaii, some limpet species are considered delicacies. The limpet is called the "fish of death" in Hawaii because many people lose their lives harvesting them from rocky locations.
Sustaining in times of famine.
limpets have long been associated with poverty and starvation, and are often referred to as "famine food" or "poor food." In Scotland, limpets are symbolic of the Highland Clearances when tenant crofters were evicted from their homes to make way for sheep. They were driven to hunger and destitution.
Neil Gunn's books describe the harsh lives of rural communities in the northeast of Scotland in the early part of the 20th century, and many references to eating limpets are found in his books.
In Ireland, there are many stories of people surviving on seaweed, limpets and other common shellfish during the many famines that hit the country in the 1800s. Before the 19th century, it was mostly the poor who gathered the shellfish. The fare was referred to as cnuasach mara.
Many people in Ireland still think limpets are a synonym for poor food or famine food. "Mussels are the food of kings, limpets are the food of fools," is the old Irish saying.
The cultural traditions.
The importance of limpets as a food was recognized by the playwright Aristophanes. The play Assemblywomen on gender equality has one of the longest words in Latin history, which describes a dish that includes limpets by stringing together its ingredients. Here it is.
"Lepadotemachoselachogaleok, sanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiopa, kechymenok, optekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraio."
limpets are popular as bait for catching fish and crustaceans. In Scotland, the tradition of using limpets for this purpose is reflected in literature and song.
In the past, limpet shells have been used for a wide variety of things. The "sailor's valentine", a type of shell craft made from small seashells, was first created in the 1830s.
In Hawaii, limpet shells were placed on shrines, and some families revered them as their ancestral spirits. In the east of Scotland, limpets are believed to be part of the ritual of human sacrifice. Christians around the UK, Ireland and the Azores eat limpets on Good Friday in a way that is similar to how Christians should cling to God.
The humble limpet has been underestimated. The marine relative of the terrestrial snail helped humans evolve and provided much needed nutrition and physical and cultural sustenance along the way. It was much more than that, and it was popular. The limpet deserves some respect.
The Conversation's article is a Creative Commons licensed one. The original article can be found here.
The humble limpet helped humans develop, survive and thrive.
The document is copyrighted. Any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research cannot be reproduced without written permission. The content is not intended to be used for anything other than information purposes.
