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changed very little over 900-1,000 years (Longo & Clark 2012, pp. 208-209). Some

terminology is still in use today, like rais the word for the tonnara captain (Longo & Clark

2012, p. 209).

The design and positioning of the tonnara takes advantage of tuna migration and

spawning behaviour, and the conditions of the sea and wind. The two main structural

elements are la coda, a long tunnel (sometimes several kilometres long) where the tuna enter,

and la Isola, a rectangular series of camera (rooms) that separate the tuna into a series of pens

(see fig. 1.5). The tonnarotti move the tuna through the rooms eventually to the final room la

camera della morta (the chamber of death), where the slaughter of the tuna takes place in the

dramatic customary practice of la mattanza. Historically, and even today, the tonnara

operated within clear social hierarchies. Tonnarotti worked under the guidance of the rais

whose skills, charisma and knowledge set him apart. The rais liaised with owners and

community, recruiting men and women to augment the workforce during mattanza. Goliardo

Rivano, a tonnarotto (singular) since 1999, recalls that ‘all of the town would be called on for

the mattanza. Not only men but women also would work in the cannery, cutting, cleaning and

canning the tuna’ (2013, pers. comm. 18 June 2013).

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