Online Exhibit: Antarctic Expedition Huts

Three huts on Ross Island, by McMurdo Sound, survive from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, an era from the late 1800s to Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 in which 17 major expeditions from 10 countries set out to explore the continent. Discovery Hut, at Hut Point, was built by Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition of 1901–04. With verandas on three sides and little insulation, it was hard to keep warm, but it was left well stocked with stores for future parties. Shackleton's Hut, at Cape Royds 23 miles to the north, was built for his Nimrod Expedition of 1907–09, and in 2006 crates of whisky left by the expedition were found frozen beneath it. Scott's Hut at Cape Evans was prefabricated in England and built in 1911 for the Terra Nova Expedition. Insulated with seaweed quilting sewn into its walls, it was described by the crew as "warm to the point of uncomfortable", and it was later reused by Shackleton's Ross Sea Party of 1915–17. Because of the constant sub-freezing conditions, all three huts are extremely well preserved.

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