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Alberta Teaching Profession Commission annual report

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Annual report of the Alberta Teaching Profession Commission as required under the Education Act.

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Outcomes of the 2022/23 school nutrition pilot

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Summarizes the results of a pilot program to fund non-profit organizations to deliver nutrition programs in partnership with school authorities during the 2022/23 school year. The funding was in... More ≫

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Summarizes the results of a pilot program to fund non-profit organizations to deliver nutrition programs in partnership with school authorities during the 2022/23 school year. The funding was in addition to base nutrition funding allocated to public, separate, francophone and interested charter school authorities.

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Social studies curriculum engagement

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Between September 18 and October 16 2023, Albertans provided input about what they would like students to learn in new social studies curriculum through an online survey. This report presents an... More ≫

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Between September 18 and October 16 2023, Albertans provided input about what they would like students to learn in new social studies curriculum through an online survey. This report presents an analysis and key findings of the survey.

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The finer features of the Junction Site

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This paper reports on the success of three seasons of excavation at the Junction Site, where anomalies identified through the use of a magnetometer became focal points for the mitigative... More ≫

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This paper reports on the success of three seasons of excavation at the Junction Site, where anomalies identified through the use of a magnetometer became focal points for the mitigative excavations completed. Here we assess the utility of this technique in identifying buried features and further describe the many different features exposed. Our discussion concludes with an analysis of results and identification of the salient characteristics that distinguish the different functions of the features identified.

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The PaleoIndigenous component of the Ahai Mneh Site (FiPp-33), Lake Wabamun, Alberta

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This paper presents several years of field school research at Ahai Mneh in central Alberta, including spatial analytical methods to disentangle artifact distributions. We were able to identify a... More ≫

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This paper presents several years of field school research at Ahai Mneh in central Alberta, including spatial analytical methods to disentangle artifact distributions. We were able to identify a deeper PaleoIndigenous Period component at the site, also present in surface collections from an adjacent cultivated field. Enigmatic and initially unprepossessing artifacts from Ahai Mneh actually have fascinating stories to tell if we are willing to delve into the microcosm of human decisions for which they still preserve traces. Examples include a failed effort at making a fluted point, an unusual Hell Gap-like point, a Scottsbluff point, and a fractured Alberta point base. While the results of such analyses involve inferences, they are much better than casual assumptions about associations, and point to the need for serious regulatory reform in requiring 3-D piece-plotting of artifacts.

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Many edges to the wedges : an overview of microblade technology in western Canada

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Microblade technology in western Canada is reviewed within a regional framework to broaden archaeologists’ understanding of its geographic and temporal distribution. Substantial references are... More ≫

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Microblade technology in western Canada is reviewed within a regional framework to broaden archaeologists’ understanding of its geographic and temporal distribution. Substantial references are made to archaeological grey literature. Focusing on two main microcore forms (Denali and fixed platform), the technology is shown to be found throughout the Holocene epoch, concentrated principally in British Columbia and the Yukon, with fewer occurrences in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Microcore morphologies are strongly dependent on the qualities of toolstones used in their manufacture; the principal core forms demonstrate regionally distinct distributions and weak temporal trends. From the Late Pleistocene and through the Holocene, microblade technology in northwestern North America appears to increase and decrease in popularity on track with major climatic episodes. Substantial progress has been made in recent times in substantiating a north to south time-slope trend in...

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DgPf-18: Handprint rock art at the Sandstone Ranch site, North Milk River

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In 2017, Archaeological Survey staff investigated claims of rock art being present on a sandstone outcrop located at Sandstone Ranch, lands owned and managed jointly by the Nature of Conservancy... More ≫

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In 2017, Archaeological Survey staff investigated claims of rock art being present on a sandstone outcrop located at Sandstone Ranch, lands owned and managed jointly by the Nature of Conservancy of Canada, the Alberta Conservation Association, and the Alberta Fish and Game Association. A preliminary visit to the outcrop resulted in the identification of a couple of red ochre handprints and smears. The rock art was identified as Foothills Abstract Tradition rock art. This paper discusses the significance of this newly identified rock art and how it relates to the distribution of other red ochre handprints and smears in Plains rock art.

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Stories from Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump : an interview with Boyd Wettlaufer

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Boyd Wettlaufer carried out the first systematic excavations at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in 1949. Stories from Wettlaufer himself describe his work at the site and his relations with local... More ≫

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Boyd Wettlaufer carried out the first systematic excavations at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in 1949. Stories from Wettlaufer himself describe his work at the site and his relations with local communities. The artifacts recovered by Wettlaufer are examined and compared to results from subsequent excavations. The presence of the Paleoindian artifacts, as well as certain landscape features, suggests the site was used as a bison kill as long ago as 9000 BP. Several artifacts made of exotic raw materials show that the people at Head-Smashed-In were involved in the trade and movement of raw materials not native to Alberta.

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The recovery for display of a 1,600-year-old roasting pit feature from Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

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Dozens of pre-contact pit features have been recorded during excavations of the processing area at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, in Alberta, Canada. In 1990 a largely intact 1,600-year-old... More ≫

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Dozens of pre-contact pit features have been recorded during excavations of the processing area at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, in Alberta, Canada. In 1990 a largely intact 1,600-year-old roasting pit feature was located and left in situ as it was considered a good candidate for future display, should an opportunity present itself. In 2016 that opportunity was realized with the planned development of the new Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton. The feature was relocated, excavated, and enclosed in a plaster jacket using a technique commonly used by paleontologists for fossil recovery. After removal and transport, the final excavation of the feature was accomplished in the museum, allowing optimal excavation conditions that produced some unusual results. This methodology allows the preservation and long-term interpretation of archaeological material, providing an alternative to dismantling these features under standard archaeological research conditions.

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An unusual Avonlea pit at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

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At the instigation of Jack Brink, a large pit feature situated in the processing area of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (DkPj-1) was excavated in 1992. Apparently made by enlarging an animal burrow,... More ≫

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At the instigation of Jack Brink, a large pit feature situated in the processing area of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (DkPj-1) was excavated in 1992. Apparently made by enlarging an animal burrow, the irregularly shaped feature contained ochre-painted bison bones, bison mandible digging implements, large portions of a pottery vessel, projectile points, 17 sets of articulated bison bones, portions of 15 bison skulls, and almost 1000 identifiable faunal specimens, the vast majority being bison. Artifacts and radiocarbon dates between 1300 and 1050 cal BP indicate the feature is associated with Avonlea. In the absence of a functional interpretation relating to the processing of bison, a ceremonial/ritual purpose appears to be the best explanation for this unusual pit feature.

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