Ice axe used on Dr Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Object No. 85/1702
This wooden ice axe was used on Dr Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) by the 23-year-old Sydney science graduate, John George Hunter (1888-1964), who was the expedition's biologist. An ice axe is a multi-purpose tool for use in snow and ice. It features a long wooden handle, with a pick for cutting hand and foot holds in ice, and an adze for cutting steps in snow or water ice. At the opposite end is a spike to enable the ice axe to be used as a walking stick when moving around difficult or ice terrain. It was also used to cut ice for melting to be used for drinking and cooking. Mawson and his sledging team used ice axes and shovels to cut and dig an ice cave to escape blizzards. They called this refuge "Aladdin's Cave". Ice axes were also apparently useful for breaking up the hard Plasmon sledging biscuits. In a series of Antarctic lectures in 1910, before his famous expedition the year after, Mawson talked about the technique of killing penguins with a fatal blow with his ice axe! This ice axe is a tangible reminder of the pioneering scientific work undertaken on Mawson's 1911-1914 AAE as well as being a fascinating artefact from the heroic age of polar exploration when mountaineering as a sport was still in its infancy. Margaret Simpson Curator, Transport, Toys & Antarctica August 2012 Heagney, Brenda, 'Hunter, John George (1888-1964)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hunter-john-george-10578/text18789, accessed 17 May 2012.
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Summary
Object Statement
Ice axe, timber, taken on Dr Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914, used by the expedition zoologist, John George Hunter, maker unknown
Physical Description
Ice axe, timber, taken on Dr Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914, used by the expedition zoologist, John George Hunter, maker unknown This ice axe comprises a pick and adze at one end of a long wooden shaft with a spike at the other end. The corroded metal head is attached to the wooden shaft by two metal supports. The top half has been broken off and been reglued. There is a leather band around the shaft.
DIMENSIONS
Height
1051 mm
Width
170 mm
Depth
42 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
The maker of this ice axe is unknown
HISTORY
Notes
This ice axe was used by John George Hunter (1888-1964) the biologist on Mawson's expedition. Hunter was a University of Sydney science graduate when he was taken on by Mawson for the main base in Adelie Land. He spent a year at Cape Denison then undertook a summer cruise on board the "Aurora" in the summer of 1913-1914. Hunter's work in Antarctica involved investigating all forms of life including swimming and bottom dwelling marine animals and plants (which were dredged by hand). It included research on seals, penguins and other birds, as well as the micro organisms which made their home on and inside these species. On his return to Australia Hunter completed a medical degree, and served in France with the Australian Army Medical Corps during World War I. He became an assistant physician at Sydney and Royal South Sydney hospitals and became the fulltime New South Wales branch secretary of the British Medical Association. He continued as a medical administrator and later lectured on ethics to medical students. Dr Hunter was appointed a CBE in 1957 and died at his home at Lilli Pilli, a southern Sydney suburb, in 1964. Cape Hunter, a rocky promontory on the western shore of Commonwealth Bay, in Antarctica was named for him. Hunter's ice axe together with an Antarctic bird's egg, penguin egg and skis were donated to the Museum in 1985 by his son and daughter-in-law Dr and Mrs Hunter of Gymea Bay, New South Wales.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of J Hunter, 1985
Acquisition Date
30 August 1985
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