Tortoiseshell Comb, 19th Century

St Andrews Preservation Trust, Tortoiseshell Comb, 19th Century:

Tortoiseshell Comb; 19th C; SAAPT 204 on eHive

Tortoiseshell began to arrive in Britain in the mid-17th century when the English took control of Jamaica. British sugar plantation owners a

eHive

The preservation trust has an a amazing collection of items from St Andrews, Fife and the wider world!

Tortoiseshell began to arrive in Britain in the mid-17th century when the English took control of Jamaica. British sugar plantation owners and slave traders often commissioned luxury objects, as they reflected their wealth and status. Items made from tortoiseshell were particularly prized owing to its translucency and colour, and for being versatile in making a variety of items, such as furniture and jewellery.

Over 200 years of the hunting of hawksbill turtles has driven the turtles to the brink of extinction. In 1977, international trade of the hawksbill turtle became illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The hawksbill turtle is still a critically endangered species today.

#scotland #st andrews #fife #return to the kingdom of fife #museum #turtle #nature

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Operation Wallacea with Hunor Deak

The Transylvanian region is location in central Romania, ringed by the Carpathian mountains.

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It has a long and storied history having been settled and invaded many times by numerous different peoples over the course of the centuries. During the 12th century in particular, a large migration into the area by the Saxon (Germanic) people began when it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Saxons were tasked with defending Transylvania, and many of the current Transylvanian villages show those Saxon influences. Large fortified churches are prominent in almost every village as well as architecture that would be familiar to anyone from central Europe. Most of the Saxon population eventually emigrated away - particularly at the end of communist rule in Romania, but their influence still runs deep in the area. In many ways it is also considered "the land that time forgot" with very little heavy industry and agriculture that is common throughout the rest of the continent, with the locals still maintaining farming practices that have been unchanged for centuries.

#nature conservation #nature #Romania #bird #birds_nature