Fruit cake found at Cape Adare thought to be from
Scott's Northern Party (1911)
(Credit: Antarctic
Heritage Trust)
You may think you've found some frighteningly old leftovers at
the back of your fridge, but they're likely to pale in comparison to
a fruitcake recently uncovered by the New Zealand-based Antarctic
Heritage Trust. Found in one of the huts used by Captain Robert
Falcon Scott during his ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-13,
the "almost edible" fruitcake lasted over a hundred years wrapped in
paper and preserved in a tin-plated iron alloy tin
It's possible to connect to some of the greatest dramas in
history through the most mundane of things, and this is a perfect
example. In 1910, Captain Scott and the 65 men of what was
officially called the British Antarctic Expedition set out for the
frozen continent aboard the exploration ship Terra Nova. Their goal
was to carry out a comprehensive scientific study of the Antarctic
and be the first party in history to reach the geographic South
Pole.
It was an endeavor that would only be matched in
ambition today by a manned mission to Mars, but the expedition ended
in disappointment and tragedy when Scott, along with Edward Wilson,
Captain Lawrence "Titus" Oates, Henry "Birdie" Bowers, and
Lieutenant Edgar "Taff" Evans set out on the arduous journey on foot
to conquer the Pole. They reached their goal on January 17, 1912,
only to discover that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had got
there 34 days before.
Fruit cake after conservation treatment (Credit:
Antarctic Heritage Trust)
Scott and his men attempted to return to base, stopping
at supply caches previously left piled on the ice for their return,
only to find that the extreme cold had damaged the tins holding
their vital heating oil. Evans died of frostbite and infection on
February 17. Then a severe blizzard trapped the remaining party in
their tent only 11 mi (18 km) from their next depot. Oates, his foot
useless from frostbite, left the tent to give his three companions a
better chance, but they succumbed to exposure and malnutrition on
March 29, 1912.
Based at the Cape Adare huts left behind by Norwegian
Carsten Borchgrevink's expedition in 1899, Scott's expedition was
well supplied with provisions, including the fruitcake made by the
London firm of Huntley & Palmers, who provided emergency biscuits
and other baked goods for the explorers.
The cake is currently in New Zealand after undergoing
conservation. Though the tin was reported to be in poor condition
and needed consolidation and preservation against corrosion and the
label has some physical damage, the paper liner was intact and the
cake itself was in excellent condition.
The fruitcake is one of 1,500 artifacts brought back
from the Cape Arde base for study and preservation as part of
efforts to conserve the first building ever erected in Antarctica.
The Trust will hold on to the cake until work on the buildings is
completed, when it will be returned with the rest of the finds to
the site where they were found in keeping with the site's status as
an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA)
Huntley and Palmer's fruit cake in wrapper (Credit:
Antarctic Heritage Trust)
"With just two weeks to go on the conservation of the
Cape Adare artifacts, finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake
in amongst the last handful of unidentified and severely corroded
tins was quite a surprise," says Programme Manager-Artefacts Lizzie
Meek. "It's ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is
still a favorite item on modern trips to the Ice."
As to whether this is the world's oldest fruitcake,
believe it or not, there are older ones, with one in Canada clocking
in at
139 years old. Given the tendency to regift fruitcakes rather
than consume them, who knows? There may be a new champion
unwittingly sitting under a Christmas tree this year.
Source:
Antarctic Heritage Trust
http://newatlas.com/oldest-fruitcake-antarctica/50895