Baffin Island evidence of contact with Europeans prior to the Vikings' arrival in Greenland". Dr Sutherland's research eventually led to a 2012 announcement that whetstones had been found with remnants of alloys indicative of Viking presence. The archaeological site at Tanfield Valley is thought to have been a trading post, and thus Baffin Island would be Helluland. Baffin Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region. The hamlets of Cape Dorset and Qikiqtarjuaq do not lie on the Baffin Island proper. Cape Dorset is situated on the Dorset Island which is located few kilometers from the south eastern tip of the Foxe Peninsula.
Baffin Island in the middle of the island, has been retreating since at least the early 1960s, when the Geographical Branch of the then-Department of Mines and Technical Surveys sent a three-man survey team to the area to measure isostatic rebound and cross-valley features of the Isortoq River. Conversely, in the 1970s parts of Baffin Island failed to have the usual ice-free period in the summer. The island has been continuously inhabited by Inuit peoples for centuries. In September 2008, "Nunatsiaq News" reported that a team led by Dr. Patricia Sutherland of the Canadian Museum of Civilization had found archaeological remains of