1986.008.0956
Crop
Physical Object
1986.008.0956
Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)
circa 1620
A twisted bronze or brass wire, wand-like device, with a loop at one end and a handle at the other, looks like an animal tender’s crop, to be used a short switch or whip. There were many live animals on board Atocha, including horses, cattle, goats, and chickens. Certainly, a crop to keep livestock in line would have had a use on the ship. There is no record of who oversaw the animals, but the task most likely fell to the ship’s boys. Unfortunately, there are no known parallels for this device; we can find no historical or archaeological information to confirm our ideas about it. 39.5 by 2.5 cm.