Treasure Trove of Ancient Butter
Blog Entry: Wednesday 16 Dec 2009
“I think the butter was absolutely a treasure find,” Lizzie Meek of the Antarctic Heritage Trust told TV NZ.
As Anne Barraclough reported for The Times: “The butter, originally from New Zealand, was found frozen in the stable area adjacent to the Cape Evans hut by members of the Antarctic Heritage Trust involved in restoration work on the building.”
“Scott used the hut as a base for his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in January 1912. He was beaten to the Pole by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and died, along with his four colleagues while trying to return.”
“Members of the Trust were working on the stables next to the hut when they found the two frozen blocks of butter next to empty butter boxes.”
“The team will now attempt to restore the butter, removing tiny pieces of grit that are embedded in it. It will then be placed back in the stables, where temperatures seldom rise above 10C. If it does not deteriorate, the team will leave it for another 100 years,” says Lizzie Meek.
“Scott and his men reached the South Pole on January 17 1912, and died some time after March 29, the date of the last entry in the explorer’s diary. The entry reads: Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of hardihood, endurance and courage…which would have stirred the hearts of every Englishman.”
Visit the Times Online to read the full story ‘97 year old butter found in Robert Scott’s Antarctic hut’.
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