by Next to a gravel path that crosses a hilltop on the east side of Nose Hill Park in Calgary, there is a circle of stones.
Until recently, only parts of the circle were visible to passers-by, many of whom unknowingly walked right through a site that is now the subject of an archaeological dig aimed at revealing the lives of the Blackfoot people.
The University of Calgary’s archeology and public archeology field school program, in partnership with Calgary Parks and Open Spaces, broke ground on the project on May 13. In the coming weeks, students, university staff and volunteers will work together to recover fragments. history hidden under the soil.
The stone circle itself is a remnant of the Blackfoot camp, where a lodge would once have been erected.
Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary who is leading the dig, says the circle is one of about a dozen in the area.
“The site itself is not limited to where we are digging. It extends quite a ways over the top of Knock na Srón here, so. [that] break and slope,” she says, skimming him over the open fields of the park.
An insight into everyday life
Amundsen-Meyer said this specific location was chosen, in part, to protect it—the city rerouted the nearby sidewalk in 2006 to give the stone circle a wider space, but parkgoers continued to walk over it. , which was ahead of his. gradual erosion.
It also provides a unique learning opportunity.
“We excavate a lot of places where there’s very dense material, like a bison slaughter or a processing site because they’re so dense, they’re archaeologically rich,” Amundsen-Meyer said.
“But those are really activities that happen for like a few weeks every year, right? That’s not the daily life of the people of the past.”
Shell fragments found at the excavation site would have been brought up the hill to the camp, says excavation head Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer. (Terri Trembath/CBC)
In comparison, a stone circle, while not always offering the same amount of artefacts, can provide insight into what individuals were doing on a regular basis.
So far, the excavation has been fruitful. Pieces of stone tools have been found, and even shells, which Amundsen-Meyer says were used to make beads and other decorative items.
Taryn Healy Crowchief, from the Siksika Nation south of Calgary, has been working with Amundsen-Meyer as her assistant for the past three years.
This is his first time working on Nose Hill, and he said he did not know before this dig that there were Blackfoot lodges in this location.
“It’s much more diverse than on the reserve … as soon as I saw them I was surprised and honestly it was great. It’s amazing to see.”
Crowchief said he was a little discouraged when he found nothing on his first layer, which was five centimeters down. But then, he reached the 10-centimeter mark.
“As soon as I hit that, I start hitting the sweet spot.”
A place he has loved for a long time
Although the date of the site is unknown at this point, it is likely from the pre-contact period, Amundsen-Meyer said. She suspects it would be part of a seasonal camp for the Blackfoot people in the warmer months, given the area’s exposure.
According to a 2019 report from the City of Calgary, evidence from a nearby dig conducted in the late 1970s in an area known as the Hawkwood site indicated that people hunted and cooked bison on Nose Hill.
“Based on the trial combination of radiocarbon dates and the distinctive shapes of stone artefacts used to make spears, darts and arrows, we know that the area of the Hawkwood site was frequently used by humans,” the report reads.
Remains from the Hawkwood site have been dated as far back as 8,250 years ago, and as late as 500 years ago.
Laureen Bryant, with the city, said an important aspect of the dig is creating public awareness of the long history of Nose Hill Park.
Taryn Healy Crowchief sifts through material at the site on Nose Hill Park in Calgary. (Terri Trembath/CBC)
“Our mandate is to identify, preserve and celebrate historic resources, and we do very well with the historic pieces, but not the pre-contact pieces,” Bryant said.
“And so this was a huge opportunity for the students to learn, [and] provide community participation.”
Bryant said the materials found will be cleaned and cataloged at the University of Calgary, before ending up at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton.
When the project is complete, the stone circle will remain in place, and the area around it will be reseeded with a short native grass mix, she said. One day, signage may be put in place to highlight the importance of the site.
“This is one of our natural park lands so we want to make sure that we are returning to nature, but we also want to look at, in the future, to create an interpretive element of this site,” said Bryant .
Amundsen-Meyer said opening the dig up to volunteers also played a role in communicating the past.
“We really have the opportunity to educate the general public and kind of bring the understanding of the really long-term history of this place, right? We think of Calgary, OK, the late 1800s, but the history goes here much further back than that.”
Before the project began, Amundsen-Meyer said a ceremony was held to bless the work they were about to do.
For Crowchief, the combination of his professional training and family traditions are part of the learning process.
“This is pretty new so I’m trying to get as much information as I can, but culturally it’s very indigenous,” he said.
“There is a lot of evidence to show that there is a lot of history here.”
