Abstract

For close to 30 years, the Province of Alberta has enjoyed the benefits of some of the most comprehensive heritage legislation in North America. As a result of its existence, a cultural resource management regime has been developed which sees the routine conduct of archaeological investigations in conjunction with development projects throughout the Province. These projects range in scale from multi-million dollar investigations spanning five years or more, involving a host of professionals and large territories such as those encompassed by the oil sands mining programmes in northern Alberta, down to brief inspections of individual residential properties. The cumulative effect of these investigations has been to open vast chapters of Alberta's prehistory. The existence of this system and the results it generates can be traced to the pioneering leadership of Richard G. Forbis.