View west of tent ring at south end of Contwoyto Lake; large and intensively used archaeological site and gravel pit on esker in background.

Jean Bussey of Points West Heritage Consulting Ltd. directed archaeological investigations for a Joint Venture Project involving the Tibbitt to Contwoyto (formerly the Lupin) winter road. This was basically a post-construction assessment necessitated by increased road activity and the fact that the existing Licence of Occupation will expire in 2003. There was no requirement for an archaeological study prior to the first use of this approximately twenty-year-old winter road. The Joint Venture partners wished to conduct sufficient background studies in advance of their application for renewal of the licence.

Archaeological work represented one component of this multi-disciplinary program. Gabriella Prager, Carol Rushworth and Robert Lackowicz, representing Points West, and Mike Francois (Yellowknives Dene First Nation) and Len Turner (North Slave Metis Alliance) assisted with field investigations. The fieldwork consisted of an archaeological inventory of the existing winter road and adjacent areas, as well as associated gravel pits and camps.

View south of esker complex near Portage 46 on the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road; 13 archaeological sites recorded in this vicinity

During the archaeological inventory, 55 new archaeological sites were discovered and 14 previously recorded sites were revisited. Stone tools or the fragments (flakes) removed during the manufacture of stone tools are characteristic of most sites, but a number contained a single tent ring. The majority of the artifacts are white or gray quartz, but specimens of chert, siltstone, basalt and sandstone were also recovered. Six of the new sites were found in Nunavut Territory and the remaining 49 were in the Northwest Territories. All 14 previously recorded sites were in the NWT. Several sites in both territories contained tools suggestive of the Arctic Small Tool tradition. Most archaeological sites were located on or adjacent to eskers, but a number were on well-drained deposits associated with large lakes and several were situated near a height of land that provided a strategic viewpoint. A number of sites have been disturbed by construction and use of the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road and associated facilities; a few have been destroyed, primarily as a result of gravel pits or camps. Several sites are threatened by continued and increased use of the winter road. Two such sites at one of the gravel pits were tested and visible surface artifacts were collected. No further work is required at these two locations, but other sites will require testing, more detailed excavation and/or surface collection in the near future. Potentially diagnostic tools or specimens of a unique material type were collected from a number of sites and will be analyzed during the winter of 2001-2002.