Mawson's Huts

Mawson's Huts
Mawson's Huts Mawson's Huts (Antarctica)
Coordinates	67°0′30″S 142°39′40″E / 67.00833°S 142.66111°E / -67.00833; 142.66111Coordinates: 67°0′30″S 142°39′40″E / 67.00833°S 142.66111°E / -67.00833; 142.66111
Country	Australia
State/territory	Australian Antarctic Territory
Construction
Built in	1912
Built by	Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Built for	Scientific outpost/exploration
Administration
Maintained by	Australian Antarctic Division; Mawson's Huts Foundation
Facilities
Water	Unlimited, in ice form
Accessibility
Accessed by	Sea

"Mawson's Huts" are the collection of buildings located at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, in the far eastern sector of the Australian Antarctic Territory, some 3000 km south of Hobart. The buildings were erected and occupied by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1911-1914, led by geologist and explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.

Mawson's Huts are rare as one of just six surviving sites from the Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration.^[1] The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was the only Heroic Era expedition organised, manned and supported primarily by Australians.^[2]

The huts included a magnetograph hut, used to measure variations in the south magnetic pole; an absolute magnetic hut, which was used as a reference point for studies in the magnetograph hut; and the transit hut, an astronomical observatory.^[1]

The most important building at the site is the winter living quarters, known as "Mawson's Hut". This pyramid-roofed hut was home to the eighteen men of the AAE main base party in 1912, and the seven (including Douglas Mawson) who stayed on for an unplanned second year in 1913. The hut combines two sections - the living quarters and the workshop, prefabricated in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, and shipped to the site for construction in 1912 by the AAE team.

Radio

Using a wireless relay station on Macquarie Island, it was possible to contact the Australian mainland by radio. The AAE was the first expedition that had this possibility. Meteorological observations got transmitted by the system continuously. It was the first use of radio on the Antarctic continent.^[3]

The Main Hut

The Main Hut included facilities for 18 men but it only measured 53 square meters (7.3*7.3 meters). The adjoining workshop measured 27 square meters (5.5*4.9 meters). On three sides, the building is surrounded with 1.5 meter wide verandas. The Verandas were used for many different things including housing the sled dogs.

The Main Hut contains a kitchen, a laundry, a storage and a sleeping room.^[4]

Conservation and heritage recognition

Expeditions undertaken by the Australian government (through the Australian Antarctic Division since the late 1970s) and private non-profit conservation organisations (notably the Mawson's Huts Foundation since 1997) have carried out conservation work on the huts. In addition to archaeological recording, removal of snow from inside the huts and ongoing maintenance, recent interventions (1998 and 2006) have been to encapsulate the failing timber roofs with new timber over-cladding in order to weatherproof the interiors.

The site is recognised under the Antarctic Treaty as a Historic Site & Monument (HSM 77) since 1972, and placed within an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 162) and an Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA 3) in 2004. It is also on the Australian National Heritage List, Commonwealth Heritage List and Register of the National Estate.

The Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Minister for the Environment & Water Resources released for public comment a new management plan for the Mawson's Huts Historic Site in July 2007.^[2] The plan sets the principles that will guide activities to preserve the heritage values of the site in the lead-up to the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

References

Resources

• Australian Antarctic Division (2007 Mawson's Huts Historic Site Management Plan 2007-2012.
• Mackay, R (2005) ‘Ice, icon and identity: the meaning of Mawson’s huts’. In Lydon, J & Ireland, T (eds) Object Lessons: Archaeology & Heritage in Australia.
• Mawson, D (1915) Home of the Blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914.
• Pearson, M (1992). ‘Expedition huts in Antarctica: 1899-1917’. Polar Record 28, 167: 261-276.

External links

• Australian National Heritage listing for Mawson's Huts and Mawson's Huts Historic Site
• Home of the Blizzard — the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
• The Mawson's Huts Foundation
• "Frozen in Time" fulldome planetarium show about Mawson's Huts
• "Frozen in Time" fulldome planetarium show about Mawson's Huts - online video

Australasian Antarctic Expedition Personnel Main Base party Bob Bage Frank Bickerton John Close Percy Correll Walter Hannam Alfred Hodgeman John Hunter Frank Hurley Sidney Jeffryes Charles Laseron Cecil Madigan Douglas Mawson Archibald McLean Xavier Mertz Herbert Murphy B. E. S. Ninnis Frank Stillwell Eric Webb Leslie Whetter Western Base party Charles Dovers Charles Harrisson Charles Hoadley Sydney Jones Alexander Kennedy Morton Moyes Andrew Watson Frank Wild Macquarie Island party George Ainsworth Leslie Blake Harold Hamilton Charles Sandell Arthur Sawyer SY Aurora officers John H. Blair John King Davis Frank D. Fletcher F. J. Gillies Percival Gray Clarence Petersen de la Motte Norman Toutcher Other Hugh Evelyn Watkins Parties and vessels Far Eastern Party SY Aurora Western Base Party Places Adélie Land Cape Denison Commonwealth Bay King George V Land Macquarie Island Mertz Glacier Ninnis Glacier Queen Mary Land Shackleton Ice Shelf Wireless Hill Other Adélie Land meteorite Air-tractor sledge Mawson's Huts Category