Site KkNq-43, view north over quartz veins, graves or caches, to west end of Back Lake.

In July 2001, De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. (DBCE) requested that Jacques Whitford Environment Limited conduct some archaeological investigations of proposed mineral exploration activities in the vicinity of Gahcho Kué, and on parts of the winter access route between MacKay Lake and Gahcho Kué. Archaeologist Callum Thomson and field assistant Henry Basil spent seven days in the area, and found a total of 33 new sites.

Most of our work was concentrated in four activity areas. MZ Lake is an exploration area about 20 km west of Gahcho Kué (Kennady Lake); trenching is contemplated in addition to test drilling in this area, which is located at the centre of the southern half of the claim block. We found four precontact sites around the lake; these consisted of scatters of stone tools, and a recent trapping site. None of the sites were judged to be at risk from the proposed activities. Kelvin and Faraday lakes are approximately 10 km northeast of Gahcho Kué; continuation of mineral exploration activities around the lakes indicated a need for an archaeological survey. Two small sites were found, including a concentration of quartz veins in a bedrock outcrop that had been exploited as a source of material for making stone tools. We also checked a number of eskers within about 20 km around Gahcho Kué, which we thought might be at risk from future exploitation for sand and gravel for construction of berms and roads, and found 11 new precontact sites and two traditional use sites. Among these 11 sites are several that are quite extensive, indicating a need for land-users to conduct such archaeological assessments of these prominent features before they are exploited for aggregate stockpiling, road construction, mineral exploration and development, and other similar quarrying activities. Eskers provide easy travel routes for caribou and other mammals, and are favoured as denning sites by wolves, foxes, bears, ground squirrels and other mammals. For these reasons, hunters, trappers and travellers seek them out. Sites from all periods are frequently found on the eskers, though more often on level terraces adjacent to eskers, where people took advantage of the shelter in their lee, obtained fuel among the trees and shrubs which grow in their shelter, and camped on the generally dry, well-drained sand and gravel. Our last target areas were three places where the construction firm working on the winter access route from MacKay Lake to Gahcho Kué had deviated from the past access route because of operational necessity; parts of these deviations had not previously been surveyed. We found a total of 13 new sites on new portages between Reid and Munn lakes, Munn and Margaret lakes, and Margaret and Back lakes, all from the precontact period and mostly on knolls and gravel terraces. Most of these sites appear to have been situated for taking caribou on migration routes crossing lake narrows, river pools and rapids, and on narrow land constrictions between lakes. For the most part, the new routings were good choices, coming no closer than about 50-300 m from these sites, but we did also find that two small sites recorded in previous years had been disturbed by vehicle traffic. This emphasizes the need for an archaeologist to either survey proposed winter access routes to project areas in advance, or at least be part of the planning and field verification process so that areas of high potential can be avoided, where practicable for the safety of construction workers. In this case, the project archaeologist had been part of the initial planning review and selection of the route alignment, but some deviations had subsequently proved necessary due to local conditions.

Site KjNp-4 on sandy terrace at centre, and KjNp-3 on esker at top right.

The most interesting and significant site found during these surveys was a major quartz quarry which covers much of the top of a prominent hill between Margaret and Back lakes – an area of about 55 x 45 m, criss-crossed with deep, wide quartz veins, quartz boulders, and quartz chunks, with lots of evidence of quartz extraction and use. We also found two boulder and slab structures on the summit of the hill, which could be graves, and a low blind or shelter on the south side of the hill. This is a remarkable site that may have supplied many generations of passing aboriginal hunters with raw material.

The conclusions reached were that drilling and trenching should be able to proceed safely in the MZ and Kelvin/Faraday lakes areas, except in the vicinity of known sites. As a general recommendation for all exploration and development projects in this region, exploitation of eskers and other sources of aggregate should always be preceded by an archaeological assessment. Similarly, construction and use of winter access routes should always be preceded by an archaeological assessment, involvement of the archaeologist in the route planning process, and follow-up surveys to verify predictions made on archaeological potential and to initiate mitigation measures where necessary. The fact that DBCE initiates these investigations as part of their due diligence process, in conformance with the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and regulations, speaks highly of the DBCE commitment to heritage conservation.