The integration of this material with the traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities about the same landscape has produced a picture of human-landscape relationships that archaeology alone could not have generated.

The retreating glaciers of the region are releasing this archive on a schedule determined by climate, not by human readiness.

The scientific and cultural institutions of the region — governments, First Nations, universities, parks agencies — are working to develop systems for monitoring and responding to glacial exposures before the material they release is destroyed by exposure.

But the scale of the retreating ice and the remoteness of the terrain make systematic monitoring extremely challenging.

The discovery of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi was fortuitous — the product of hunters in the right place at the right time, who recognized what they had found and reported it through channels that led to appropriate response.