Abstract

Environmental impact studies engendered by the Northern Quebec Airports Improvement Project included the systematic archaeological inventory of the environs of 11 Inuit villages and the salvage excavation of sites threatened by project construction work. This field programme, carried out between 1984 and 1988, was planned and implemented through the collaboration of the Ministry of Transport of Quebec, the Avataq Cultural Institute and the local Inuit communities concerned. In all 233 sites were inventoried and four sites were salvage excavated. The organisation and results of these impact mitigation activities are described and the implications of the programme regarding the management of archaeological resources in Nunavik are discussed.