Preserving Polar History – The Conservation of Material Culture from the Early Exploration of Antarctica
-Jana Stefan
At the turn of the 20th century, Antarctica was host to one of the last great races of geographic discovery, as explorers including Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen breached the shores of the frozen continent in search of the South Pole. In addition to bringing with them thousands of pounds of provisions and personal belongings, each of these expeditions erected a large wooden hut to serve as winter living quarters and from which their sledging and scientific excursions were based. Remarkably, several of these huts, as well as the thousands of artefacts in and around them, survive to this day. A massive conservation project is currently underway to prevent these huts and their contents from being lost entirely to the ravages of the Antarctic environment. This talk provides a first-hand account of the exceptional challenges involved in planning and executing the conservation and archaeological excavation of a site hampered by extreme inaccessibility and unparalleled environmental conditions. Jana Stefan currently gets to scurry around behind the scenes at the Royal BC Museum each day in her role as Exhibit Arts Technician. Trained as a conservator and art historian, she has previously worked in the conservation labs at not only that institution, but at museums, libraries and sites of historic and archaeological interest around the globe. Most recently, she spent six months living in a tent in Antarctica as a conservator for the Antarctic Heritage Trust, helping to preserve the historic sites associated with the early explorers of that continent.