Abstract

When people think of Alberta's past, they think of bison kills. When they think of Alberta now, they think of oil wells. A huge bison kill site and an intensive petroleum recovery operation coexist in a stabilized sand dune locality on the northeast edge of the Neutral Hills, south of Provost, Alberta. When the Bodo Bison Skulls Site was discovered in 1995, in the middle of the oilfield operation, assessment indicated that the site remains were perhaps 1000 years old, representing short term but extensive bison impoundment activities. Renewed drilling and pipeline trenching in the spring of 2000 required additional assessment and considerable excavation. Intensified reconnaissance of the locality has expanded the size of the site to at least 140 hectares, with extensive deposits of butchered bison bone appearing throughout the site area. In one abandoned wellpad locality, a 2 x 2 m excavation revealed a 50 cm thick midden of discarded bison bone, complete with preserved hair and at least 50 projectile points. Fifty metres away a 5 x 5 m excavation revealed an intact living floor with hearths, pottery clusters and ochre stains, suggesting one or more residences. This pattern of intensive carcass processing and adjacent camping activity appears to occur repeatedly across more than a kilometre of rolling stabilized sand dune terrain. The presence of intensive industrial oilfield activity on the site presents both perils and opportunities for archaeology. Past drilling and trenching has disturbed significant portions of the site, yet careful management of future development and a pledge of preservation as an operating principle by the developer should minimize any future site impact. Furthermore, academic interest in this site is growing, and with developer assistance the time may not be far off when Alberta can boast of another major interpreted archaeological site within its borders.