Willie Ermine and his family were among those invited to the site this week, south of Crutwell. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Unearthing the past

Bison bone discovery near Prince Albert provides window to life over 9,000 years ago

Jul 4, 2024 | 11:52 AM

Researchers believe a fossil discovery west of Prince Albert not only shows proof people occupied the area over 9,000 years ago but also may assist future generations to adapt to climate change.

A team is on site this week taking samples. Dr. Andrea Freeman, a geoarchaeologist from the University of Calgary, said one of the most interesting things for her is the fact it shows people arrived not long after the glaciers left.

“Even though it may not be the earliest site in North America, it’s still evidence of people moving in to a landscape that’s freshly available,” she said. “To me that’s a fascinating kind of thought, like what is driving them into that landscape that’s just newly available to them.”

The site was discovered and originally reported two years ago by Dave Rondeau, an experienced avocational archaeologist from Crutwell. Rondeau then reported the finds to Dr. Glenn Stuart and Dr. David Meyer (emeritus) from the University of Saskatchewan, who paid for initial radiocarbon dating of a bone from one of the lower stratigraphic layers at the site.

The shoulder blade of a bison was found buried in the riverbank cliff. (Submitted/ Dave Rondeau)

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Noting how 20,000 years ago, when the landscape was initially undergoing tremendous changes, and even after the glaciers moved away, and new plants and animals came in, Freeman explained the climate continued to make changes with respect to both temperature and the amount of precipitation.

“And the way people respond to that landscape can tell us a low how we might respond to different kinds of weather changes or climate changes,” she explained.

Members of Metis-Nation Saskatchewan and local First Nations have been invited this week to the site to learn more about what’s being done. Willie Ermine, an Elder at Sturgeon Lake First Nation, said the work validates what his people have known for a long time.

“We didn’t just exist at Treaty time or constitution time, we’ve been here all along,” he said.

The site has been named Âsowanânihk. which means “place of crossing” and was given the name by the Sturgeon Lake First Nation. As the site is located in a part of the North Saskatchewan River, it would likely have been an ideal crossing place for migratory animals, such as bison.

Another bone fragment from the site. (Submitted/ Dave Rondeau)

Further noting his own oral history talks about thousands and thousands of years of occupation in this area, Ermine explained there was a time of the downsizing of the animals, and the buffalo did downsize two times to the size we see today.

Glenn Stuart is an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s Anthropology department and and is also among the academics on site. He explained when people think about archaeology they often think it’s only related to the pyramids or ancient Rome.

“They forget or don’t know that we have archaeology here because people have been living here for thousand of years,” he explained.

In addition to basic sedimentary and soil analyses, researchers are also looking for phytoliths, carbon isotopes and pollen. Stuart explained this will help assist with the reconstruction of the past environment and all the samples will tell the researchers something different.

“By combining all that information together, we get a really good understanding of what the environment was like and how that changed through time,” he said.

Further noting the artifacts found in the riverbank area, Stuart said this will show what opportunities and resources were available to the people to interact with their environment.

(Submitted/ Dave Rondeau)

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell