Yukon Ice Patches

The Yukon Ice Patches are a series of dozens of ice patches in the southern Yukon discovered in 1997, which have preserved hundreds of archaeological artifacts, with some more than 9,000 years old. The first ice patch was discovered on the mountain Thandlät, west of the Kusawa Lake campground which is 60 km (37 mi) west of Whitehorse, Yukon. The Yukon Ice Patch Project began shortly afterwards with a partnership between archaeologists in partnership with six Yukon First Nations, on whose traditional territory the ice patches were found. They include the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation, and the Teslin Tlingit Council.

Map of Yukon

Ice patches

Cryologists describe how ice patches, such the rare Yukon alpine region ice patches, differ from glaciers. The latter are constantly moving; they gradually build up mass over time until they reach a certain size, when they slowly flow downhill.[1] Unlike glaciers, ice patches do not move. As some of the snow remaining from winter accumulation melts, the rest is gradually compressed into ice. Ice patches do not achieve enough mass to flow downhill so any artifacts within are preserved intact without being crushed.[1]: 4 

History

In the 1990s "during a period of extremely warm summer temperatures" with ice patches melting, the Yukon Ice Patch Project began.[1]: 2  In September 1997, Gerald W. Kuzyk discovered the first of the Yukon ice patches artifacts, an atlatl dart fragment, on mountain Thandlät at an elevation of 1,850 m (6,070 ft).[2][3][4]: 363 [5][6]

The Yukon Ice Patches are studied by archaeologists in partnership with six Yukon First Nations, on whose traditional territory the ice patches were found. They include the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation, and the Teslin Tlingit Council.[7]

"At [the Kusawa Lake] location, a small fragment of wooden dart shaft was recovered and radiocarbon dated to 4360 ± 50 14C yr BP (TO 6870). Also reported was a caribou dung pellet dating to 2450 ± 14C yr BP (TO 6871) collected from a nearby ice core 1.6 m (5.2 ft) below the surface (Kuzyk et al., 1999:214). That first brief research report represented one of the earliest accounts of ancient, non-glacial ice in North America and drew attention to the potential of alpine ice to be a productive source of paleobiological and archaeological information"

— Hare et al 2012

The 43 Yukon Ice Patches in southern Yukon included "more than 207 archaeological objects and 1700 faunal remains have been recovered from 43 melting ice patches in the southern Yukon. The artifacts range in age from a 9000-year-old (calendar) dart shaft to a 19th-century musket ball...Of particular interest is the description of three different techniques for the construction of throwing darts and the observation of stability in the hunting technology employed in the study area over seven millennia. Radiocarbon chronologies indicate that this period of stability was followed by an abrupt technological replacement of the throwing dart by the bow and arrow after 1200 BP." The artifacts are curated by the Yukon Archaeology Program, Government of Yukon.[8]: 120 

In the Kusawa Lake area, there are no longer any caribou, but in her 1987 interviews, Elder Mary Ned (born 1890s-) spoke about caribou being “all over this place.” Evidence of this was proven by the nearby discovery of the Ice Patch artifacts...Oral history tells us that a corral, or caribou fence was located on the east side of the lake, between the lake and the mountain."[2][5][6]

References
  1. Hare, Greg (2011). The Frozen Past: The Yukon Ice Patches (PDF) (Report). Government of the Yukon. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-55362-509-4. Retrieved December 2, 2017. With contributions from Sheila Greer (Champagne and Aishihik First Nations), Heather Jones (Carcross/Tagish First Nation), Rae Mombourquette (Kwanlin Dün First Nation), John Fingland (Kluane First Nation), Mark Nelson and Jason Shorty (Ta’an Kwäch’än Council) and Tip Evans (Teslin Tlingit Council).
  2. "Traditional Homeland". Kusawa Park Steering Committee. nd. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  3. Kuzyk, G.W.; Russell, D.E.; Farnell, R.S.; Gotthardt, R.M.; Hare, P.G.; Blake, E. (1999). "In pursuit of prehistoric c caribou on Thandlät, southern Yukon" (PDF). Arctic. 52 (2): 214–219. doi:10.14430/arctic924.
  4. de la Cadena, Marisol; Starn, Orin, eds. (September 15, 2007). Indigenous Experience Today. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 384. ISBN 978-1845205195. Retrieved December 2, 2017. In 1997, "a wildlife biologist hiking near a north facing alpine basin some 1,830 meters above sea level stumbled on a square-kilometer concentration of caribou droppings melting from an alpine snow patch. Artifacts were literally pouring out of melting ice. Subsequent research revealed evidence of ancient caribou harvesting on the mountain named Thandlät in Southern Tutchone language. Scientists describe this rare opportunity to explore questions about the prehistoric ecology of large caribou populations, implications of climate change for caribou, and human use of high-elevation hunting sites."
  5. Cruikshank, J. (1985), Contributions to the Oral History of the Kusawa Lake Region, Yukon Territory, Archaeological Survey of Canada, p. 28 From Mrs. Annie Ned prepared for Archaeological Survey of Canada, National Museums of Canada.
  6. Cruikshank, Julie (January 1, 1991). Life Lived Like a Story: Life Stories of Three Yukon Native Elders. UBC Press. p. 428.
  7. Greer, S.; Strand, D. (2012). "Cultural landscapes, past and present, and the South Yukon ice patches". Arctic. 65 (1): 136–152. doi:10.14430/arctic4189.
  8. Hare, P. Gregory; Thomas, Christian D.; Topper, Timothy N.; Gotthardt, Ruth M. (2012). "The Archaeology of Yukon Ice Patches: New Artifacts, Observations, and Insights" (PDF). Arctic. 65 (1): 118–135. doi:10.14430/arctic4188.
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