Buried deep below a shallow southeastern Alberta valley, punctuated by wind-swept sand dunes, vast grassland and aging cow manure, lies evidence of a slaughter that took place 2,500 years ago.
What was once little more than leased Crown land now doubles as a precious archeological dig, which, with each turn of the trowel, is teaching University of Lethbridge researchers what one of Alberta's few known bison kill sites can tell us about our past.
Listening to archeology professor Shawn Bubel tell the story of how a roaming herd met its demise, it's as though she was there when the nomadic hunters stalked, slaughtered and butchered their prey in a single winter kill.
Aging cow manure. . . .