Abstract
Antarctica, including adjacent islands, is a unique setting for the archaeology of science because much of the continent’s sites were created at research stations established by many countries. It is suggested that research stations can be treated as a set of regional data amenable to locational analyses. The limited amount of professional archaeology accomplished so far underscores the potential of site-specific studies to furnish information about actual behavior that cannot be gleaned from other sources. The contributions of site-specific studies are illustrated by the East Base station, established by the USA before World War II, and partially excavated. The chapter also calls attention to opportunities for comparative studies on technological variation and change in measuring instruments and transportation modes.
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Notes
- 1.
A list of occupied stations, as of 2009, is in https://www.comnap.aq/facilities, accessed 20 January 2012; see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_stations_in_Antarctica, accessed 20 January 2012.
- 2.
Sand test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zsX6VFraWU, accessed 28 January 2012. Arrival in Boston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1QtGVVt1Kw&feature=endscreen&NR=1, accessed 28 January 2012.
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Acknowledgments 
I thank David L. Harrowfield, Ricardo M. Roura, and Noel Broadbent for help in constructing this case study, and Glenn D. Simpson who furnished detailed comments on a draft.
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Schiffer, M.B. (2013). Scientific Expeditions to Antarctica. In: The Archaeology of Science. Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique, vol 9. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00077-0_10
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