All Resources

The finer features of the Junction Site

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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...

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

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

Description

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 ≫

Description

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.

Tags

The 2021 excavations at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, UNESCO World Heritage Site : taking Jack Brink’s excavations to a new level

Description

Throughout the 1980s, Jack Brink conducted excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of Alberta at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and developed an extensive understanding of how bison that... More ≫

Description

Throughout the 1980s, Jack Brink conducted excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of Alberta at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and developed an extensive understanding of how bison that were hunted at the jump were transformed into food and supplies. A joint team from the University of Lethbridge and the Royal Alberta Museum returned to the site in 2021 with the express goal of digging beneath where Jack had stopped and unearthing the earliest stages of use. While the materials we discovered were minimal, the results were stunning, revealing that activities have been occurring at the site for more than 8500 years. The results of the 2021 excavations are presented as a tribute to Jack’s contributions to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.

Tags

Microbotanical remains, residues, and usewear : other views of Head- Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Description

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the best-known archaeological sites in Canada and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This paper examines examples of phytoliths, charcoal, lithic tool residues,... More ≫

Description

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the best-known archaeological sites in Canada and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This paper examines examples of phytoliths, charcoal, lithic tool residues, and usewear to cast new cultural and palaeoenvironmental light on the site. Phytoliths and charcoal corroborate that the past environment was a foothills fescue mixed grassland, as it is today. Tools unexpected at a bison kill, such as hide scrapers and drills, document probable use of the site as an occasional campsite outside the times when it was used for bison hunting. In particular, the residues and usewear demonstrate processing of plants

Tags

Fifty years of fur trade archaeology in northern Alberta forests : what have we accomplished?

Description

This study examines the status of fifty years of archaeological research of the Historic Period (c. 1787-1920) in northern Alberta, Canada. More specifically, it reviews research conducted for... More ≫

Description

This study examines the status of fifty years of archaeological research of the Historic Period (c. 1787-1920) in northern Alberta, Canada. More specifically, it reviews research conducted for both fur trade archaeology and historic Indigenous archaeology by provincial and federal sectors. The study focuses on one of the most fundamental components of archaeological inquiry: the Alberta archaeological site inventory. Using the historic documentary record, the paper determines the potential fur trade and historic Indigenous sites present in northern Alberta and examines archaeological records compiled in northern Alberta to assess their suitability to investigate historic peoples of that region.

Tags