Mawson's Huts

Mawson's Huts
View of Mawson's Huts during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911.
Mawson's Huts
Coordinates	67°00′31.6″S 142°39′39.7″E / 67.008778°S 142.661028°E / -67.008778; 142.661028
State/territory	Australian Antarctic Territory
Construction
Built in	1912
Built by	Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Built for	Scientific outpost/exploration
Administration
Maintained by	Australian Antarctic Division; Mawson's Huts Foundation
Facilities
Water	Unlimited, in ice form
Accessibility
Accessed by	Sea

Mawson's Huts are a collection of buildings located at Cape Denison, in the far eastern sector of the Australian Antarctic Territory, some 3000 km south of Hobart. The huts were erected and occupied by members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1911–1914, led by geologist and explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.

Mawson's Huts are rare as one of just six surviving sites from the Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration.^[1] The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was the only such one during the Heroic Era organised, manned and supported primarily by Australians.^[2]

The huts included a magnetograph hut, used to measure variations in the south magnetic pole; an absolute magnetic hut, which was used as a reference point for studies in the magnetograph hut; and the transit hut, an astronomical observatory.^[1]

The most important building at the site is the winter living quarters, known as "Mawson's Hut". This pyramid-roofed hut was home to the eighteen men of the AAE main base party in 1912, and the seven (including Douglas Mawson) who stayed on for an unplanned second year in 1913. The hut combines two sections - the living quarters and the workshop, prefabricated in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, and shipped to the site for construction in 1912 by the AAE team.