Flood of 2013 unearthed ‘ thousands’ of bison bones

Two years after floods tore through communities across southern Alberta, archeologists are still exploring what was unearthed by the raging water.

At FM Ranch, an ancient bison jump just south of the Calgary city limits, the flood exposed “thousands and thousands” of bison bones, and significantly changed a major archeological resource for the better.

“There’s no question we lost a lot ( in the flood). But, there’s a silver lining in the fact the new exposures have revealed hundreds of previously undiscovered sites,” said Darryl Bereziuk, director of the archeological survey unit of Alberta Culture and Tourism.

Students from the University of Calgary’s archeology department joined archeologists with Alberta Culture and Tourism at the site on Thursday afternoon to excavate animal bones and artifacts including stone tools and ancient pottery.

“It’s really quite a fascinating and interesting spot,” Bereziuk said.

“You can stand there and envision a bison jump having occurred, with bison at the bottom of the slope and all the processing activities: bison butchering, boiling pits, stone toolmaking.”

Almost immediately after the 2013 flood, the province started getting calls from members of the public stating they’d found “bones hanging out” or unearthed stone tools along southern Alberta riverbanks.

The province launched a threeyear archeological flood recovery program, and staff began following up on tips, surveying river banks, identifying what was lost, and scouring the new sites that have been revealed.

After flood waters walloped the FM Ranch site, citizens turned to a provincial website and phone number in droves to report new archeological discoveries.

“Of all the calls we’ve received through our Report a Find hotline, the FM Ranch site was by far the largest reported,” Bereziuk said.

At the site, flood waters exposed significant new deposits, and archeologists have spent the past two weeks assessing the site and excavating certain portions.

“The new exposures show that the site is so much larger than what we had originally protected. We’re trying to get a handle on how extensive the site deposits are so we can expand our protective boundaries,” Bereziuk said.

He said it’s important the protective boundaries around FM Ranch be expanded to prevent any kind of developments in the future from affecting the archeological sites.

“Archeological sites are extremely sensitive to both natural and cultural disturbances. It’s a non- renewable resource. We’re not making any new sites. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever,” he said.

“These sites, each of them preserve a record of the human history of Alberta that we’re really striving to save. It’s a legacy for all Albertans.”

Students with the University of Calgary Archaeology Department began participating at the site of the FM Ranch archaeological assessment where new discoveries have been reported since the 2013 flood.