Remains of bison, sheep, and other animals have been found, and almost all of these artifacts have been beautifully preserved in the ice on the high cold ridges. Farnell, a caribou biologist with the Yukon Department of Renewable Resources, coordinates the various research projects associated with the ice patches. So far 70 to 80 sites have been identified in the southern Yukon, with most of them on the lee side of the Coast Range. But as obvious as this treasure trove of information appears now, no one had any idea of the secrets contained in these ice patches until a few years ago. In 1997, Kuzyk came across an icefield in the Kusawa Lake area that was thickly covered with caribou dung.
Caribou gather on ice patches in the summer to get away from biting insects.
But they usually only spend a few hours there at a time, and there are not enough caribou in all of the southern Yukon today to produce the huge quantities of feces that Kuzyk was seeing. Knowing that something unusual was going on, Kuzyk brought other experts to the site. One of the first visitors found an atlatl shaft lying on the ground that has been dated at 3510 years of age. The sites are in the traditional territories of three First Nations, and the artifacts melting out of the alpine ice are striking a chord in their communities. The findings tie into their oral traditions about caribou, and the important role they have played in their culture.