Ancient Arctic Booty? (Mystery Graves & Chest; Baker Lake)

[Mighty_Emperor]

Yarrrrrrrrr - start at ye palm tree, take three paces west and then 600 kilometres north (or something).

Jul. 12, 2004. 06:24 AM

Chest holds Arctic mystery

Inuit hunters find graves, sealed box
Archeologists plan probe in August


BOB WEBER
CANADIAN PRESS

Three unmarked graves, their age and inhabitants unknown.

Buried carefully nearby, under precisely stacked rocks, is a weathered old wooden chest sealed with a rusty padlock, its contents just as mysterious.

A seafaring yarn of Caribbean pirates?

No. An Arctic mystery near Baker Lake, Nunavut ? one that a team of archeologists hope to solve this summer.

"We really don't know what's in this box," said Doug Stenton, Nunavut's head archeologist who will lead the expedition.

"People love a mystery. It should be fun and exciting to go see what's in there."

The site was discovered last summer by a group of Inuit hunters who were fishing and hunting by the north channel of Baker Lake. When nasty weather forced the group to hunker down for a few days, one of the men found the graves and the buried chest amidst evidence of an old campsite.

"We were joking that there's a million dollars in (the box)," said John Avaala, one of the hunters.

Despite their curiosity, the men didn't remove the rocks and lift out the chest, which is less than one metre square.

When the men returned to Baker Lake, they reported their find to the mayor. Word got around the small town and eventually the area's provincial legislator took the news back to the territorial capital of Iqaluit, and Stenton's office was told.

Stenton suggests the site dates to sometime during the last few hundred years, since European contact and exploration. The graves aren't built in the typical Inuit style. Avaala has his own theory.

"I think they're white men ? kabloonaks.

"I think that was (a) shipwreck from the north channel of Baker Lake. There are some big chains near it about half a mile (away)."

Baker Lake is linked to the west coast of Hudson Bay by Chesterfield Inlet.

In the 1700s, the inlet was explored as a possible route to China. During the next century, it was sailed by whalers. There are no records of expeditions being lost in the area, said Stenton, but that doesn't mean the site isn't the remains of one.

"There has been quite a bit of travel through that general area over the years," he said. "The community sent us over some paperwork on some of the expeditions that have passed through the area so we'll be doing more research on that before we go."

The contents of the box may hold the key.

Archeologists won't excavate the graves, but the box will be removed and opened by trained conservation staff.

Stenton plans to be on the site sometime around mid-August, depending on weather and the progress of other excavations during the summer field season.

source

 

[ArthurASCII]

"We were joking that there's a million dollars in (the box)," said John Avaala, one of the hunters.
Despite their curiosity, the men didn't remove the rocks and lift out the chest, which is less than one metre square.

How on earth did they resist the temptation to open the box?

Hit me with a skeptic stick, but I smell something fishy.

 

[Jerry_B]

Well, if they're treating the objects from an archaeological point of view, you don't just open the object and have done with it. As an item, it has to be conserved, etc.. Altho' one has to wonder why they haven't x-rayed it.

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

Hi

i'm puzzled

surely it needs proper a archaeological dig.
context is so important.
just digging up the item without proper investigation of the site means they may be missing clues as to what the box is all about.

BTW baker island is at the end of chesterfield inlet, nw part of Hudsons Bay.

as to whether it could be european.

well... having just read farley mowat's the alban quest (review now on my website) (yawn) it's just possible that it could be european.

i also notice on a google serach that they've discovered gold thereabouts.

if there's gold mining i expect the archaeological sites will get trashed.

richard @

 

[ArthurASCII]

Well, if they're treating the objects from an archaeological point of view, you don't just open the object and have done with it. As an item, it has to be conserved, etc.. Altho' one has to wonder why they haven't x-rayed it.

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear JerryB, I was referring to the Inuit hunters, not the archeologists. I'm amazed that they didn't open the box to see what goodies it contained, after all, the article says it was buried, so they must have worked to uncover it.

 

[mejane]

My initial thought was "pass the crowbar" too but weather conditions, uncertainity as to the age of the the graves, etc, etc, could well explain why the hunters didn't open the chest.

Or it could be those evil archeologists up to no good again (sorry!)

Jane.

 

[escargot]

Graves, yup, we don't know what they died of.
Could be something that stays infectious well after death. An example would be anthrax. :eek!!!!:

 

[Leaferne]

...and because it's Canada, there's probably reams of paperwork to be filled out (in at least two languages), native groups to consult, etc.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Graves, yup, we don't know what they died of.
Could be something that stays infectious well after death. An example would be anthrax. :eek!!!!:

Yup, that was my initial thought too.

 

[ArthurASCII]

Graves, yup, we don't know what they died of.
Could be something that stays infectious well after death. An example would be anthrax.

But they'd already uncovered the chest, and according to the article, the chest was "less than one metre square". Hardly capacious enough to house the remains of anything bigger than a dwarf.
And the box was locked (not the usual practice at most burials and unusual for a container of provisions I would have thought).
It's an intriguing little story isn't it.

Speculation Rules

 

[Anonymous]

Graves, yup, we don't know what they died of.
Could be something that stays infectious well after death. An example would be anthrax. :eek!!!!:

Good point. I remember reading an article a few years ago about an expedition that was going to the Arctic to study some frozen graves from the 1918 flu pandemic. They wanted to research into what made the strain so deadly. And they wanted it ALIVE!
:eek!!!!:


Edit: Aha! After a hunt, I've found some articles from the New York Times archive.
New York Times
Link is dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/2004081...du/Chemistry/Chem101/dna-viruses/sci-flu.html

 

[EnolaGaia]

In September 2004 the mystery chest at Baker Lake was opened ...

Baker Lake mystery trunk opened
By NUNATSIAQ NEWS
SEP 24, 2004 – 6:02 PM EDT

A locked wooden chest found near Baker Lake last summer has been opened to reveal the skeleton of a small child.

John Avaala was among a group of hunters that came across three unmarked graves and the metre-square chest while on a caribou hunt at the eastern end of Baker Lade. At the time, he joked that the chest contained a million dollars.

Instead of breaking open the rusty padlock, the hunters returned to the hamlet to tell the mayor about the find.

Archeologists opened the trunk on Wednesday, and estimate that the grave is 50 to 70 years old. The site where the trunk was found also contained stone caches and inuksuit, as well as artifacts such as barrel hoops, stovepipes, wood and metal. Archeologists photographed the site rather than disturb its contents.

Avaala participated in the excavation of the trunk along with local resident Darryl Simailak and Doug Stenton, the director of Culture and Heritage at Nunavut’s department of culture, language, elders and youth. The department will consult with the hamlet before doing more exploration.

SOURCE: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/baker_lake_mystery_trunk_opened/

 

[Kondoru]

So, a family were there? A European family?

Most unusual.

Im sure there is a sad but interesting tale here, though we may never hear it.