Page 64 - KATE_JOHNSTON_2017

Fig. 1.5 The tonnara system used in Sardinia adapted from Addis et al. (2014, p. 591).

Mattanza was the starting point of supply and consumption networks. After mattanza

tuna were broken down, the flesh boiled and brined for local and foreign markets, and the

organs salted and dried, mainly for a local market. Thus tonnara refers not only to the

underwater series of nets and technique of tuna fishing, but also to the series of buildings on

land –storerooms for nets, boats and tools, and areas for tuna conservation initially using

wooden barrels. The distinction between land and sea tonnara and activities continues in

Sardinia where tonnarotti distinguish between tonnara di terra (land) and di mare (sea).

During the season workers were housed and provided with essential services and goods

(Lentini 2011, p. 1-2). Later these same structures would become canneries with the

invention of tin cans and replacement of barrels in the mid-1800s.

th
By the 11 Century the tonnara was the principle capture method for tuna in Sicily

(Lentini 2011, p. 3) where it performed a central socio-economic role (Longo & Clark 2012).

The tonnara was also economically significant for the numerous European powers that ruled

over Sicily. These powers brought with them political regimes that transformed the socio-

52