Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Canada · Alberta

SettlementUnknownUNESCO · 1981
Approximate period3,850 BCE — 1,850 CEApproximate period of use for communal bison hunting; includes interruptions See on the map ↓

In brief

This site preserves an extensive archaeological landscape where bison herds were hunted by driving them over a cliff. Excavations beneath the cliff documented the long history of communal hunting through bone layers and stone tools.

What was found?

  • 1Layers of bison bones

    Dense layers of bones accumulated beneath the cliff are the remains of repeated communal hunts. The layers make it possible to trace the long use of the hunting site.

  • 2Scottsbluff-type spear points

    Two spear points document early human visits to the site. However, there is no evidence that those who used these points hunted bison by driving them over the cliff.

  • 3Stone projectile points

    Some stone points in the lowest hunting layer belong to short spears used with a throwing device called an atlatl. These show changes in hunting technology over different periods.

  • 4Stone-marked drive lanes

    Stone markers and natural landforms created routes that directed herds toward the cliff. The remains show how hunting was organized across the landscape.

  • 5Meat-processing camp

    Hunted animals were processed at campsites beneath the cliff. In addition to food, bison provided materials for clothing, tools, and shelter.

What does it point to?

The site reflects the communal hunting arrangements of communities with a thorough knowledge of bison behavior and the terrain. Successful hunting depended on organizing interconnected tasks, from directing herds to processing meat.

What did it teach us?

  1. Showed that communal bison hunting required complex social and technical arrangements.
  2. Revealed that early human visits and the use of the cliff-driving method must be evaluated through separate evidence.
  3. The layers documented a period when hunting was interrupted during the site's long history of use.

Images

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump-27527-2
Ken Thomas · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Indigenous hunting communities of the North American Great Plains
Coordinates
49.7084°, -113.6521°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. whc.unesco.org
  3. headsmashedin.ca

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