Résumé (en anglais):

During the Hypsithermal period, ca. 9,000-6,000 B.P., the northern plains climate was relatively mild and dry, and the southern limit of the boreal forest was at least 70 km north of its contemporary position in Saskatchewan. As a result, plains bison habitat would have extended into what is now the southern section of the boreal forest. Archaeologically, the northern plains cultures of this period have been grouped in the Mummy Cave series and these bison hunters would have expanded their ranges to include this northern extension of the prairies. Indeed, Mummy Cave materials are very common throughout the southern boreal forest of central Saskatchewan but, to the present, most of the known Mummy Cave sites are surficial occurrences, which lack stratification, and most have been disturbed by cultivation. In this regard, the Below Forks site on the Saskatchewan River is important because it preserves a terrace section which contains stratified cultural components which extend back to the Mummy Cave period (5,845 B.P.). This site, therefore, has the potential of providing the first firm information on the characteristics of Mummy Cave assemblages and the relationships of these peoples to the environment of central Saskatchewan during the Hypsithermal.