REVIEW BY SHERRIE-LEE EVANS
Archaeology in Antarctica is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of archaeological practice in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic. The authors have researched published, unpublished, and oral accounts of all past archaeological work in Antarctica to present a detailed history that replaces and expands on the previous summary of historical archaeology in Antarctica produced by David Harrowfield in 2005.
The book is divided into four parts, with the first providing essential historical and geographical background, unpacking the relationship between historical and archaeological evidence, and exploring the challenges of working in a unique geopolitical environment.
The second part covers the history of archaeological investigations in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic, challenging notions of a ‘pristine wilderness’, which are often applied to the Antarctic, by tracing the history of research into the material remains that survive from over 200 years of human encounters with the continent and surrounding islands. Encounters motivated by resource-exploitation, heroic exploration, and scientific endeavour, as evidenced in a wide variety of sites from sealers’ and whalers’ camps and iconic explorers’ huts and shipwrecks to the historic and current scientific bases of today. It also details how that research has concentrated primarily on documenting these archaeological resources for management purposes – for example, for building- and site-conservation works at Scott’s, Shackleton’s, and Mawson’s Huts.
