Tag: Archaeology
By Madeline Coleman
November 1, 2017
What do you see?
Everyone will interpret shapes and lines their own way. But once someone points out an image they see, sometimes you wonder “how did I not see that?”. A member of the Paul First Nations group took one look at this biface (from the Brazeau Reservoir) and saw a Bison. Can you see it? Scroll down
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By Madeline Coleman
September 27, 2017
Moose on the Loose!
As Brian and I headed back to Swan Hills, we turned the corner and saw this fella chilling on the trail! The forest to either side of the trail, having been harvested in the last decade or so, had young trees growing tightly together, making it difficult for the moose to make his escape. We
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By Corey Cookson
February 21, 2017
Visiting the Terracotta Army Museum
In a continuation of our posts in honour of “Mysteries of China” playing at the Telus World of Science for the months of February and March, I decided to look back on my trip to the Terracotta Warrior museum just outside of Xi’an. We visited the Terracotta Army Museum in the winter of 2014. This
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By Corey Cookson
February 15, 2017
Visiting the Great Wall of China
In honour of the Mysteries of China IMAX series currently playing at the Telus World of Science, I decided to look back on my trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in February of 2014. We took a tour to Mutianyu organised by our hostel in Beijing. This portion of the wall is in a
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
July 8, 2016
Archaeology in the Fort McMurray Fire
At the end of June we started work on planned fire salvage harvest blocks for Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, southeast of Anzac Alberta. This was the southeastern end of this springs massive Fort McMurray forest fire. When fire kills or damages a stand, there’s a limited time-frame within which the wood can still be salvaged for
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
June 27, 2016
Why do we survey gravel pits?
Aggregate pit applications, even renewals, are regularly triggered for Historic Resources Impact Assessments in Alberta. This is mostly due to two factors: their location, and their impact levels. Good sand and gravel deposits are often located near watercourses, especially major rivers, and the presence of coarse parent sediment usually gives them better drainage than surrounding
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By Teresa Tremblay
May 4, 2016
2550 – 1400 year old projectile point!
This week we present one of the artifacts from a site we found while doing surveys for Sundre Forest Products on the North Saskatchewan River in 2015. More than 30 artifacts were found through shovel testing at the site, but this one is extra-special. It’s a dart point of the Besant style. Above is a photo
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
April 1, 2016
Archaeology of the Marten Creek valley
Last year (2015) archaeologists from Tree Time Services conducted surveys of a number of areas on the Marten Creek valley, from near the mouth of the creek at Lesser Slave Lake to the headwaters at Marten Lakes. These surveys were done in advance of forestry operations by Alberta Plywood and Tolko Industries Slave Lake mill.
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
March 18, 2016
Early archaeology on Lesser Slave Lake
From 1979 to 1982, Dr. Ray LeBlanc, then Boreal Archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, conducted baseline surveys of the Lesser Slave Lake region. Before that time there were less than 1000 archaeological sites recorded in the entire Green Zone of northern Alberta (including the Grande Prairie region). Within the Lesser Slave Lake basin there were only
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
March 2, 2016
More archaeological research in the Lesser Slave Lake region
From 1979 to 1990 Dr. Raymond Le Blanc conducted archaeological surveys and excavations in the Lesser Slave Lake region, first as a member of the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, and later with an archaeological field school with the University of Alberta. These projects are one of the largest archaeological bodies of work in Alberta’s boreal
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