Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands)
southern extremity of Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands
Cape Lookout, also known as Cabo Fossatti or Cabo Vigia, is a steep cape, 240 m high, marking the southern extremity of Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The name Cape Lookout appears on a map of 1822 by Captain George Powell, a British sealer, and is now established in international usage.
Important Bird Area
The site has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a large breeding colony of about 12,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands)” is southern extremity of Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cape, Lookout and South, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “southern extremity of Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 19, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q2605054. Authority coordinates are -61.267, -55.200. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1822.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands) primary sources, Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands) archive and Cape research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cape Lookout (South Shetland Islands)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.