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Recent Archaeological Work at Shackleton's Cape Royd's Hut Site

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Recent Archaeological Work at Shackleton's Cape Royd's Hut Site AUSTRALASIAN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 24, 2006 Frozen solid: recent archaeological work at Shackleton’s Cape Royd’s hut site (1907–1909), Ross Island, Ross Dependency, Antarctica NEVILLE A. RITCHIE In January and November 2005 the writer was privileged to be involved in further archaeological work on Ross Island, Antarctica under the auspices of the Antarctic Heritage Trust (AHT). This paper outlines previous work since 1960 and specifically addresses the archaeological removal for conservation purposes of 290 case-lots of deep-frozen provisions stacked beside Shackleton’s (1907–1909) polar expedition hut at Cape Royds. The latter work was done in two periods in 2005 in accordance with the Conservation and Implementation plans for the hut. The Ross Dependency is the New Zealand administered part 1915–1916, have not been seen since they were established of Antarctica, a huge area encompassing 450,000 sq km but (Harrowfield 1995). only representing about three percent of the total Antarctic The expedition base huts have been the main foci of land and ice mass (14 million sq km; Fig. 1). But within the preservation work over the years. Four huts remain plus the Dependency are some of the most significant historic places, remnants of another. At Cape Adare, the first over-wintering a legacy of the great period of polar exploration now known hut in Antarctica was erected in 1899 by members of the as the Heroic Era (1895–1917). Not only are the sites more British Antarctic Expedition (1898–1900) lead by Carsten numerous here than on other parts of the continent, they are unique within the context of global exploration, and include Borchgrevink (born in Oslo in 1864 of a Norwegian father and the expedition base camps (large wooden huts and an English mother). Thirteen years later, in 1911, Campbell’s outbuildings), remote rock huts and shelters, supply depots, Northern Party (of Scott’s British Antarctic Expedition middens, camp sites, message posts, cairns, memorial crosses 1910–1913) erected another hut nearby. Six hundred and fifty and a grave. They are remarkable links with a time when kilometres south of Cape Adare, bigger huts were built and expeditions in the quest for national glory and geographical occupied at three locations on Ross Island by the Scott and and scientific knowledge ranged over wide expanses at the Shackleton polar expeditions during the period 1901–1917. polar extremes of the globe. Some sites, such as the supply Scott’s men erected the ‘Discovery hut’ (National Antarctic depots placed on the Ross Ice Shelf by expeditions between Expedition, 1901–1904) on Hut Point in 1902 (Fig. 2); at Cape 1902–1912 and by E.H. Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party in Royds the ‘Nimrod hut’ (Fig. 3) was erected by Shackleton’s Fig. 1: Map of the Ross Sea Region. 39 1957–1970 THE ICE REMOVAL PERIOD After the Heroic Era was over the huts were abandoned to the elements. They were not to be seen again until the late 1940s when US Navy personal made the first visits. The first ‘preservation work’ at the Ross Island huts was undertaken by sailors from RNZN Endeavour and personnel from New Zealand’s Scott Base in 1957–1959; the emphasis being on making the huts accessible and weather proof. Essential repairs were made and some snow was removed from within the huts at Cape Evans and Cape Royds. The sailors also collected and burned ‘rubbish’ at the two sites. By this time many artefacts had been removed to museums or souvenired since the huts were first revisited in the late 1940s. At this stage, the early 1960s, ice almost filled the seldom visited and remote Borchgrevink expedition hut on Cape Adare, and on Ross Island only Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds was ice-free. In contrast the two huts further south at Fig. 2: Scott’s Discovery hut, Hut Point, Ross Island (1901–04). US Hut Point and Cape Evans were almost filled with ice. This McMurdo Station in the background. was considered by New Zealand Antarctic authorities as detrimental to the historic structures, hindered maintenance required within reason by the Antarctic Treaty 1959, and prevented access to visitors. For these reasons the decision was made to remove all of the ice (Harrowfield 2004:8) In 1960 historian Leslie Quartermain (then Information Officer Antarctic Division (DSIR), sought Northern Hemisphere advice on the best means of extracting artefacts from ice, but when the work was done at Cape Evans no records were made of where the hundreds of artefacts were located (other than trying to put things back in the areas they were found) and only a small photographic record was compiled. According to Quartermain, ‘it soon became apparent that the ice concealed a great quantity of material of potential interest and value; a surprising quantity in fact…’ (Quartermain 1961). The ice removal was done with picks and shovels considered the only practical method of tackling the job at the time. Some damage, mainly to canned provisions, occurred in the process. To some extent this was unavoidable because ‘many shelves had collapsed under the weight of Fig. 3: Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds (1907–09). snow [and] what had been on them, was in a jumbled mass on the floor and now embedded in solid ice’ (Quartermain 1961). Artefacts were extracted then left outside to allow the ice to melt. In January 1964, a New Zealand field party, again using picks and shovels, removed the ice and snow that almost filled ‘Discovery Hut’ (after Scott’s ship Discovery) at Hut Point. By today’s standards only brief records including one floor plan by architect Rodney Smith and a few photographs documented the work (Gibbs and Smith 1964) but this does not detract from their achievement. In those early days systematic archaeology was not considered necessary or even thought about. Furthermore field parties had limited time to complete the work and were under pressure to get the job done. By comparison at that time the only work involving systematic excavating of ice on historic sites had been confined to a few sites in the Arctic (Harrowfield 1996). In 1971, ten years after the ice was removed from inside the Cape Evans hut, a large midden associated with the Ross Sea party (1915–1917) was cleared from outside the main Fig. 4: Scott’s Cape Evans (1910–12) hut under heavy snow. entrance. Everything from sledging, scientific and Photo N. Ritchie, November 2005 photographic equipment to clothing and empty cans, had been tossed out the door. The midden had the potential to provide party in 1908 (British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–1909), and information on the privations and activities of the marooned Scott erected the largest of all the huts at Cape Evans (Fig. 4) men, but the field party had a directive to clean up the area and in 1911 (British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–1913). The latter while some photographs were taken and over 100 artefacts was also occupied by the Ross Sea Party of Shackleton’s collected, no further recording was done apart for listing the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–1917 (Harrowfield ‘good finds’ and placing them in Scott’s hut. 2004:8). For a more detailed account of the early ‘historic huts 40 restoration work’ on Ross Island refer Harrowfield (2004:11). perma-frosted ground. At Cape Royds and Evans he By today’s standards the early work leaves much to be desired experimented with using heavy black polythene sheeting to try but at the time it was a genuine effort by dedicated people and absorb heat and thereby increase the rate of melt using accepted practices to save the structures and much of underneath. While he proved the method worked, the slow their contents for future generations (Figs 5, 6). thaw rate precluded its use for major excavations in the short window of opportunity for ice excavations (a couple of months in summer) (Harrowfield 1978a, b). In 1981 Turner and the first professional conservator Jack Fry (from the then National Museum, now Te Papa), visited the Ross Island huts. Although few of Fry’s recommendations were able to be implemented at the time, some were incorporated in the first management plan for the huts (Turner and Harrowfield 1984). Among a range of issues it advocated the use of ‘specialist historic archaeology techniques’ in the course of any further ice removal work and the need to properly document the location of artefacts and stratigraphy and seek advice on appropriate conservation measures. THE PROFESSIONAL ERA Following the experimental archaeological work by Harrowfield (1978a, b), professional archaeologists Neville Ritchie and Alexy Simmons were invited to visit the huts in the summer of 1986–1987. Their report identified 20 major Fig. 5: Galley of Scott’s hut at Cape Evans, January 2005. management issues that minimally needed to be addressed if the huts and their contents were going to be preserved long term (Ritchie and Simmons 1987). Coincidentally the Christchurch, New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust (AHT) was established in 1987 superseding the quasi-government Historic Sites Management Committee. Within a year the AHT had established a Conservation Advisory Group (CAG) to produce a new and much more specific Ross Island Huts Management Plan (Cochran 1990). The modern conservation management era had begun albeit seriously under-funded until recent times. On the archaeology front, the initial visit by Ritchie and Simmons (1986–1987) led to the first major systematic archaeological excavations by Neville Ritchie and Nelson Cross at Cape Evans (Bowers’ annex and stables) in 1987–1988 and 1988–1989 (Ritchie 1988, 1989a) during which new technological advances were introduced; notably the first use of air heaters, heat guns, a chain saw and a Dynadrill for archaeological excavations in ice.
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