Widening the scope of Antarctic Heritage

SENATORE, MARIA XIMENA; ANDRES ZARANKIN

Punta Arenas

Encuentro; International Polar Heritage Committee Meeting; 2010

ICOMOS International

Archaeological research focused on the presence of 19th-century sealers in the South Shetland Islands has been developing for decades and strategies aimed at preserving the broad richness and diversity of the material remains associated with these occupations have been come forth lately. However, we find that there are both conceptual and practical limitations to achieving this conservation. This paper refers to these limitations and their possible origin, while it proposes an active role for historical and archaeological research in setting the agenda for the conservation of the Antarctic cultural heritage. With this purpose we study a) some of the most widely spread versions of Antarctic History (recurrences, emphasis and silences); b) the process for designating Historic Sites and Monuments under the Antarctic Treaty and the characteristics of the designated sites; c) the role of historical narratives in the preservation efforts of these sites, and the relationships of these three items to one another. Our analyses suggest there is a conceptualization of Antarctic History in terms of exploration vs exploitation. Whereas the stories of scientific exploration are “preserved” by means of the commemoration of specific events, dates, or persons, in specific locations (e.g. huts) stories associated with the exploitation of Antarctic resources have been and are silenced and forgotten. It is worth mentioning that many of these stories of sealers and whalers carry no specific protagonists, exact dates, or apparent “historical relevance” to be commemorated and even if there are widely spread material remains they are scarcely considered in the conservation agenda of the Antarctic cultural heritage. We hope this discussion will contribute to pluralize the agents of Antarctic History and to widen the scope of the Antarctic Heritage.