The Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (HSI) has been known as an UNESCO Heritage Site located in Alberta, Canada. This bison jump is a known archaeological site, that preserves the early history of Plains First Nations (Brink et al. 1986) Aboriginal people who roamed the Plains understood the importance of resources and regional topography. By understanding how the environment functioned and thrived, Plains people were also able to monitor and develop a better understanding of buffalo mobility and behaviour. (Brink 2008) Aboriginal people built drive lanes where the animal would not be able to escape, the bison would be forced to run off the cliff. This technique was adopted and functioned for many years, leaving remains and archaeological artifacts
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Day to day lifestyle was actively hunting and gathering which presumes many concepts of how daily life was for aboriginals.(Brink 2011 ) The kill site indicated that there were camps located close by to properly butcher the bison and distrbuite meat and resources communially. Stategically and hypothetically, hunters were influenced by bison jump techniques and had to cooperate with eachother to ensure a successful kill. (Bamforth 2011) . VIsible lines and stones used to secure the tipis are still noticeable on the praires around the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo jump. This is where most carcasses were prepared to make long-lasting food such as dried bison meat.(Brink 2011) Aboriginals utilized all parts of the bison and did not waste any, marrow contained much nutrients for daily diet. Bones are believed to be boiled due to the large quantity of boiling pits identified by archaeologists in their excavation. Furthermore, carcass materials and several metric tons of rocks were noted to have been thermally altered for cookng tools and boiling.(Brink and Dawe 2003) Archaeologists believe that boiling the bison bones was completed by using red-hot-rocks and placing them into bison hide-lined pits filled with …show more content…
The author hypothesizes that through boundary theory, we are able to learn behaviourial activities that Plains groups participated in, as well as their lifestyle at the kill site. Common activity that has been noted is the use of projectile points and tools. Sharpening tools was an ongoing task for early aboriginal people in the jump site area. Majority of the small sized remains were located near the butchering area. Boundaries near the processing and butchering location provide reasonable assumptions that the area only functioned to slaughter and process the bison. Around the area are some indications of bones being burned, this is believed to be part of countering the over-powering decaying smell that would have attracted scavenger animals. Further research showed Plains groups would embark on spiritual and ceremonial practices, due to their innate understanding of the wilderness and resources it was integral for many first nations to conduct ceremony before a hunt. Many of the remains of Sweat Lodges and Sun Dance alters have been left to disentergrate naturally given their spiritual
Day to day lifestyle was actively hunting and gathering which presumes many concepts of how daily life was for aboriginals.(Brink 2011 ) The kill site indicated that there were camps located close by to properly butcher the bison and distrbuite meat and resources communially. Stategically and hypothetically, hunters were influenced by bison jump techniques and had to cooperate with eachother to ensure a successful kill. (Bamforth 2011) . VIsible lines and stones used to secure the tipis are still noticeable on the praires around the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo jump. This is where most carcasses were prepared to make long-lasting food such as dried bison meat.(Brink 2011) Aboriginals utilized all parts of the bison and did not waste any, marrow contained much nutrients for daily diet. Bones are believed to be boiled due to the large quantity of boiling pits identified by archaeologists in their excavation. Furthermore, carcass materials and several metric tons of rocks were noted to have been thermally altered for cookng tools and boiling.(Brink and Dawe 2003) Archaeologists believe that boiling the bison bones was completed by using red-hot-rocks and placing them into bison hide-lined pits filled with …show more content…
The author hypothesizes that through boundary theory, we are able to learn behaviourial activities that Plains groups participated in, as well as their lifestyle at the kill site. Common activity that has been noted is the use of projectile points and tools. Sharpening tools was an ongoing task for early aboriginal people in the jump site area. Majority of the small sized remains were located near the butchering area. Boundaries near the processing and butchering location provide reasonable assumptions that the area only functioned to slaughter and process the bison. Around the area are some indications of bones being burned, this is believed to be part of countering the over-powering decaying smell that would have attracted scavenger animals. Further research showed Plains groups would embark on spiritual and ceremonial practices, due to their innate understanding of the wilderness and resources it was integral for many first nations to conduct ceremony before a hunt. Many of the remains of Sweat Lodges and Sun Dance alters have been left to disentergrate naturally given their spiritual