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KIMMIRUT/LAKE HARBOUR - Elders were given the opportunity to visit an archaeological site near Kimmirut on the weekend of July 26.

Seemeega Aqpik, the manager of the Kimmirut Hunters and Trappers Association, served as an interpreter between the archaeological crew and the elders. He said their response to the site was fantastic.

"They really appreciated being invited and they were amazed at the ancient tools that the Tunit used to have," Aqpik said.

Patricia Sutherland, an archaeologist and curator from the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, said bringing the elders out to the site has been a yearly event since the project began in 2001. Three students from Kimmirut are employed to help with the excavations and to act as bear monitors, she added.

"The elders were brought out for a visit to see what we are doing. I do this every year," Sutherland said. "I bring them out for a boat trip to come out and have a visit, look at artifacts, and have the students from Kimmirut tell them about the work that they're doing."

The site contains artifacts that suggest Scandinavian people, also known as Vikings, were visiting the Tuniit in the area between 1000 and 1450 AD.

"Stylistically, the evidence is consistent with that which comes from north Greenland from Norse settlements in Greenland, and they were occupied between 1000 and 1450 AD," she said.

Sutherland said artifacts like rope, sharpening tools, and tally sticks have been found in both past and present excavations in the area.

"There are tally sticks, sticks that were used for counting trade transactions, that's what they would have been used for," she said. "As well as a variety of other things but those are the three main categories of artifacts that we've been looking at, both from our collections at the Canadian Museum of Civilization that were recovered in the 60s and then the work that we are doing now."

The elders were happy to learn that the site might be designated as a World Heritage Site, according to Aqpik.

"Everybody started applauding all at once when Pat mentioned that the place will most likely become a World Heritage Site and it will be recognized as one of the first contact areas for North Americans and Europeans," Aqpik said.