Mawson’s Huts: Artefact conservation at Cape Denison, Australian Antarctic Territory

Abstract

While the conservation of the buildings left at Cape Denison by Dr (later Sir) Douglas Mawson has been the focus of many expeditions and work programs, the objects left behind by Mawson and his team have been slowly deteriorating in their icy surroundings for the past 96 years. With stabilisation of the main hut almost completed, conservation attention has now turned to some of the more tangible reminders of expedition life for Mawson and his men: the objects that remained entombed in the living quarters and workshop. This paper describes the work undertaken to establish a conservation laboratory at Cape Denison, the challenges associated with this task and the first conservation treatments undertaken at that site.