Photographic negatives left behind a century ago in Captain Scott's last expedition base at Cape Evans have been discovered by New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust.
Iceberg and land at Ross Island in Antarctica. Photo: ANTARCTIC HERITAGE TRUST
Antarctic Heritage Trust executive director Nigel Watson said on Tuesday the negatives were found in expedition photographer Herbert Ponting's darkroom and 22 have been conserved.
The trust's conservation specialists discovered the clumped-together cellulose nitrate negatives in a small box as part of the Ross Sea heritage restoration project.
The negatives were removed from Antarctica by the trust earlier this year and are from Ernest Shackleton's 1914-17 Ross Sea party.
Members of that expedition spent time living in Scott's hut after being stranded on Ross Island when their ship blew out to sea.
Mr Watson says while many of the images are damaged, restorers recognised landmarks around McMurdo Sound, although the identity of the photographer remains unknown.
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Alexander Stevens on the deck of the Aurora at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. Photo: ANTARCTIC HERITAGE TRUST