Century-old box of negatives discovered in Antarctica by conservators reveals brand new images of ill-fated mission Conservators in Antarctica have discovered negatives almost 100 years old The images depict member of the ill-fated Ross Sea Party They were found in a hut that once belonged to Captain Robert Falcon Scott in Cape Evans The Ross Sea Party was stranded in Antarctica when their ship broke free of its moorings in 1915 Three died before they were finally rescued in 1917 Conservators in the Antarctic have discovered a box full of negatives taken by the ill-fated Ross Sea Party between 1914 and 1917, preserved in ice. A team from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust restoring an old exploration camp discovered the clumped-together cellulose nitrate negatives in a small box in Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Cape Evans hut. The Ross Sea Party was marooned in 1915 after their ship broke free of its mooring during a storm. They weren't rescued until 1917. Ross Island: Alexander Stevens, chief scientist and geologist looks south with Hut Point Peninsula in the background On ice: This photo was taken from the deck of the Aurora looking South to Hut Point Peninsula Stranded: This photo is from a group adhered together and found in Captain Scott's 1911 expedition base, Cape Evans, Antarctica, by Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZ) conservators The hut was established by Scott for his doomed Terre Nova Expedition to the South Pole. Scott and his team died in 1913 of starvation and cold on their return trip. It was next used by the Ross Sea Party to leave supplies for famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. It's believed the Ross Sea Party's photographer took the photographs, which were never processed. That mission failed when their ship, the Aurora, broke free of its moorings and left 10 members of the Ross Sea Party stranded. Ill-fated: Members of the Ross Sea Party before they were stranded in Antarctica Artist's interpretation: This depiction of Ross Sea Party members was drawn and painted, probably by George Marshall, from material supplied to the artist by surviving members of the Ross Sea Party They were marooned until 1917, enduring illness, psychological trauma and extreme weather. Despite their misfortune, the team set about its work anyway, laying supplies down for Shackleton's crossing. What they did not know was that their efforts were in vain. Broke free: The Aurora was intended to be the Ross Sea Party's main accommodation but broke free of its moorings during a blizzard, stranding 10 men Shackleton had been forced to abandon his crossing after his ship, the Endurance, was crushed in pack ice. Exhausted, frostbitten and suffering from scurvy, five members of the team became stranded at Hut Point after successfully depositing supplies for Shackleton's mission. The ice was too thin to risk a return to Cape Evans and they subsisted on a diet of seal meat until two of the team decided to risk the ice. The pair were never seen again. A third member succumbed to the conditions and was buried in the ice. The remaining three at last reunited with the other four party members and were finally rescued by Shackleton aboard a restored Aurora in 1917. It was only then that they discovered the futility of their efforts in laying the stores for the journey that never happened. The conservation team from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust separated the negatives and discovered 22 images. Many of them were badly damaged but the Trust says many landmarks around McMurdo Sound are recognizable. Preserved: This photo of Alexander Stevens, Chief Scientist, on board the Aurora, as part of Ernest Shackleton's Ross Sea Party, had never been seen before conservators discovered century-old negatives in Antarctica Nigel Watson, Antarctic Heritage Trust's executive director, said the new photos are a historic treasure. 'It's an exciting find and we are delighted to see them exposed after a century,' Watson said. The photographs show new views of Ross Island, McMurdo Sound, and two pictures of the expedition's chief scientist Alexander Stevens, linking them definitively to the Ross Sea Party expedition and not the earlier Terre Nova Expedition.