After noting the location of the remains, the three BC men returned to Haines Junction, Yukon, the nearest town to the park, and notified native and government officials. At a press conference today in Haines Junction, several key people involved in the discovery and the ongoing archaeological investigation described the find. As he puts it, the find is not only important in terms of what can be gleaned from having a reasonably well-preserved human being, but the surrounding artifacts are sure to add a whole other dimension to the discovery. That's a pretty big deal archaeologically speaking. He points out that normal archaeological sites one sees in the northern parts of that region are in acid soils.
Nothing survives except stone and charcoal and maybe some other features.
The artifacts found at the site have not yet been fully catalogued, but include a walking stick sharpened at one end, a spear-type object, a pouch with a fringe on it, a hat, some shorter sticks and a cloak made from what appears to be gopher skin. There is also an atlatl - a length of wood that native hunters tied to their weapons to increase the force of their throw. The tip of a what appears to be a walking stick Mackie doesn't expect to find other such finds in the same remote location anytime soon. There's a narrow window of opportunity between when last year's snow melts and this year's snow flies. It's only a few weeks.