The Alaskan Arctic Gas Pipeline is planned as an all-land route to move natural gas from Prudhoe Bay to connect to pipeline facilities in Canada. Archeological salvage is being proposed along pipeline construction sections extending from Prudhoe Bay and from the Mackenzie River delta to connect with pipeline facilities in Canada. This document summarizes archeological investigations in the areas traversed by the proposed route north of 60° latitude up to the Canada-Alaska border (covering Yukon and Northwest Territories). It also details a research program to conserve those archeological resources.

Archaeological survey work in the upper Churchill River basin indicates that the story of human occupation in this region was unlike that of the Canadian Shield. That impression has been substantiated by the excavation of two stratified campsites (the Chartier sites) and with access to two valuable surface collections with site provenience. The two campsites covered the period from AD 700 to the Historic Period. Using the 246 projectile points collected and a sample of the ceramics, the rudimentary local sequence based on stratigraphy was expanded to a tentative chronology spanning most of the Holocene. These data provide a strong indication of the vitality of the cultural dynamics in this part of the boreal forest over a considerable period. They show that there was a late prehistoric plains occupation, followed by the westerly movement of the Cree from the middle Churchill River region very late in prehistoric times.

Study prepared at the request of Hardy Associates (1978) Ltd. on behalf of Esso Resources Canada Limited, Dome Petroleum Limited and Gulf Resources Inc. in order to assemble a current data base on the heritage resources in the study area to serve as a framework for future assessment of the possible impact of development related terrain disturbance. Includes of a literature review of historical, ethnohistorical, ethnological, archaeological and palaeontological work in the study area.