100-year-old photo negatives discovered in Antarctica

Melbourne: Cold storage!

A box of 22 photographic negatives, containing never before seen images of Antarctica, has been discovered, lying for nearly a century in a famous explorer's hut in the frozen continent.

The clumped together cellulose nitrate negatives were found in a small box in a hut that British explorer Robert Falcon Scott set up at Cape Evans, Antarctica during his ill-fated South Pole expedition from 1910-1913.

Scott wanted to be the first person to reach the South Pole, but found that a Norwegian group had beaten him.

On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

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The recently discovered negatives were removed by New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust earlier this year.

According to the trust, the photographs are from Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party, which spent time living in Scott's hut after being stranded on Ross Island when their ship, the Aurora, blew out to sea.

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"It's an exciting find and we are delighted to see them exposed after a century," said Nigel Watson, Antarctic Heritage Trust's Executive Director.

One of the most striking images is of Ross Sea Party member Alexander Stevens, Shackleton's Chief Scientist, standing on-board the Aurora.

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Although many of the images are damaged, the Antarctic Heritage Trust was able to recognise landmarks around McMurdo Sound.

However, the identity of the photographer remains unknown.

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The discovery was made as part of the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project which has seen more than 10,000 objects conserved at Scott's Cape Evans hut.