DESCRIPTION:
This outlines the various periods of human habitation in Manitoba: the
Palaeo Period (10,000 to 6,000 BC), the Archaic Period (6,000 B.C. A.D. 1), the Woodland Period (200 B.C. - A.D. 1750), the BesantSonota Phase (A.D. 1 – 800) and the Avonlea Phase (A.D. 500 – 800).
Palaeo Period (10,000 to 6,000 BC)
At the outset of the Palaeo Period, much of what is now Manitoba was
covered by thick glacial ice, kilometers deep in places, and the melt
water which formed Lake Agassiz.
The first Native inhabitants, loosely referred to as " Clovis peoples"
entered the province from the southwest, where the high ground
provided a small corner of dry, ice free land. The landscape they saw
differed from the modern prairie. It was covered with spruce groves
and hardy grasses which supported herds of mastodons, mammoth
and giant bison, abundant sources of meat, bone, hides, antlers, and
ivory.
A handful of spear heads provides the only evidence of this early
human presence. During the following Folsom phase, Lake Agassiz
began its gradual retreat, opening wider opportunities for settlement.
Hunting groups migrated intonew territories and occupied many parts
of province during Plano times at the end of the period.
The Palaeo, or Palaeoindian, Period, is the earliest firmly established
era of human activity in Manitoba. It began approximately 12,000
years ago, and some archaeologists attribute its development to the
Aboriginal discoverers of North America, who migrated over the Bering
land bridge that once connected Alaska and Siberia.
Ways of life depended upon the hunting of now extinct giant
mammals, such as the mammoth, that thrived in the Ice Age
environments typical of the time. This emphasis earned Manitoba's
First Peoples the title of "big game hunters".
The Palaeo period in Manitoba can be subdivided into three successive
traditions known as, Clovis, Folsom, and Plano, each of which is
marked by new tool kits that were developed in response to changing
environmental conditions. The Clovis and Folsom artifacts are sparsely
distributed and confined to the southwestern part of the province.
Evidence of Plano cultures is much more widespread and assumed the
form of three regional variants, each of which was especially suited to
exploit the particular food resources within the local environment.
Installed 1990
Birds Hill Provincial Park
Mammoths and mastodons were two of the most prominent species of
megafauna ("big animals") to inhabit Manitoba during the last Ice Age.
Between 65,000 and 25,000 years ago, mammoths grazed on the lush
grasses of Manitoba's prairies, while mastodons browsed in the spruce
swamps and woodlands.
About 25,000 years ago, the climate cooled, massive glaciers
advanced from the north, and the animals were forced out of
Manitoba. The southwestern portion of the province was repopulated
by mammoths when the glaciers retreated some 12,000 years later.
By 10,000 years ago, the climate warmed to the point where the
habitat changed. This, perhaps with centuries of hunting, brought
about the animals' extinction.
Mammoth and mastodon bones, teeth, and fragments of ivory tusks
have been found in over a dozen locations in Manitoba, mostly in
gravel quarries in the southern half of the province. A number of such
finds have been made in the Birds Hill area.
Clovis Traditions (10,000-9,000 B.C.)
The Setting
The first Manitobans
were probably a
Clovis group who
followed migrating
animal herds into the
region during period
of glacial retreat at
the beginning of the
end of the last great
ice age.
The earliest artifacts
in Manitoba represent
a well developed
Native tool tradition
and way of life known
as Clovis that formed
the first clearly established phase of the Palaeo Period. This culture
was widely distributed throughout North America and is best indicated
by the presence of the Clovis point, a spear head characterized by a
fluted channel along its length.
They faced a challenging climate of Arctic temperatures through much
of the year and vast expanses of glacial ice and frigid water. However,
these conditions were better than those which had prevailed in the
previous centuries.
The vegetation consisted of
spruce forest inter-dispersed
with tundra which it gradually
replaced. This landscape was
similar but not identical to the
modern subarctic transition
zone. The trees, shrubs, and
grasses served as food sources
for grazing and browsing
mammals, including mammoth,
mastodons, giant bison, horses,
muskoxen, and caribou that could be hunted by early Native groups.
Fossil evidence of the big game animals in Manitoba is not abundant,
but isolated remains have been recovered.
At Duck Mountain, Tyrrell (1892:130) may have found an entire
mastodon skeleton and more modest finds of isolated mammoth and
mastodon teeth or pieces of tusk have been recovered from the Swan
River Valley, Birds Hill, Moosenose, Springfield and Dufresne. (
Pettipas 1970:10 ).
As new land became free of ice and water, forest succession continued
northward. The long term trend toward warmer and drier climates
culminated in drought-like conditions which brought on the expansion
of the central grasslands in the Late Palaeo Period.
In the southwestern corner of the province, some habitable land had
recently been freed from the ice. At the foot of the glacier, ponded
meltwater formed Lake Agassiz which was eventually to occupy much
of the province for many centuries. Eventually the land would rebound
from the enormous pressures of ice and water to facilitate drainage
and expand the presence of dry, habitable land throughout the
province.
Clovis and Folsom artifacts are represented in
the form of their characteristic tools, stone
spear heads marked by deep grooves along
their length, a trait called a flute. These
channels allowed the early hunters to haft the
points to shafts to make formidable weapons for the pursuit of the
giant beasts on whom they depended. Clovis bands were able to
exploit the mammoth so successfully that they may have contributed
to its extinction. Later, Folsom groups were able to cope with changes
in environment by shifting to the hunting of the giant, long-horned
bison that thrived on the grasslands after the mammoths disappeared.
The Archaic Period 6,000 B.C. - A.D. 1
The Archaic Period marked the extensive development of new
technologies and subsistence patterns in many parts of North America.
It is divided into the Eastern Archaic Tradition and the Western Archaic
or Desert Tradition, both of which had an influence on Manitoba.
The driving force behind the transition from Palaeo to Archaic lifeways
was most likely a change in climate, especially the ending of the Ice
Age and a shift to much warmer and dryer conditions that marked the
Atlantic episode, beginning approximately 8,000 B.C. Reduced supplies
of water and vegetation as well as increasing pressure from highly
effective hunting bands led to the disappearance as much as 95% of
the North American big game species.
To compensate for the disappearance of their traditional food sources,
Native peoples invented new survival strategies and increased their
exploitation of a broad variety of small mammals, waterfowl, fish, and
plants. This new pattern has been called the "Broad Spectrum
Revolution" and typifies not only the North American Archaic, but also
the European Mesolithic and the African Later Stone Age, which
represent similar responses to ecological changes that were occurring
on a worldwide scale.
Technologically, the Archaic is marked by the appearance of
stemmed, notched or barbed broad bladed projectile points,
considerably smaller than those of the Palaeo Period. They were
crafted for use with an atlatl, or throwing stick, which came into wide
use during the era. In many areas is it also marked by the appearance
of ground stone tools, such as axes and milling stones, called manos
and matates, These toolkits were probably developed to take
advantage of the new resource base. The more intensive exploitation
of local environments also simulated a change in settlement patterns
towards greater sedentism, i.e. more prolonged use of individual living
sites and in some cases permanent occupation ( Willey 1996). The
increased localization and ecological specialization of the period
supported a the development of several distinctive cultural traditions
within and across major geographical zones.
Archaic Dart Point
Oxbow Type
Atlatl
The cultural phases and traditions within this period developed
between 6,000 B.C. and A.D. 1, the earliest cultural evidence in the
Manitoba region dating from 3,500 B.C. The relatively late Archaic
settlement in the Province may be due to drought conditions across
the Plains. Once the climate improved, populations increased
substantially and for the first time extended into the Arctic zone along
the Hudson Bay Coast.
As elsewhere, the Archaic Period is marked in Manitoba by changes in
climate, vegetation, food resources, and human activity. The climate
was warmer and drier than Palaeo conditions. The last of the ice
sheets melted and Lake Agassiz disappeared. Relieved from the
pressures of ice and water, the land continued to rise and tilt, and
Manitoba's current lake and river system took shape. Periodic
occurrences of drought reduced water supplies, creating desert
conditions in the central part of the province and expanding the bison
grazing areas to the north and east.
Modern bison (Bison bison) replaced
the long horned Bison antiquus,
probably because of the ability of the
smaller animals to survive dry periods.
Manitoba Native Peoples in Archaic times
changed their food acquisition strategies to
meet changing conditions. On the extensive
grasslands they developed new hunting
technologies and techniques to exploit the
smaller but still formidable bison, which
remained the mainstay of the economy until the
19th century. They also diversified their food
resources to include deer, wolf, rabbit, fox, and
wild plants such as gooseberries and cherries, a
pattern that was repeated in other
environmental zones in the province.
Similar trends occurred on the tundra and in the boreal forests.
Characteristic tools included small chipped stone projectile points and
knives. Manos, matates and other ground stone tools associated with
Archaic in other areas of North America have not been found in
Manitoba sites.
The Manitoba Archaic also provides the first direct evidence of many
aspects of culture not yet well documented for local groups in previous
times. Native peoples of the period interred their dead in formal burials
repleat with grave goods, suggesting an elaborate belief system.
Cultures of the Manitoba Archaic Period
The Archaic Period in Manitoba is divided into Early Archaic, a time for
which little evidence of extensive settlement, is available, and the Late
Archaic, when Native groups migrated to every region of the province,
populations increased substantially, and numerous traditions
developed in response to increasing ecological and cultural diversity.
Early Archaic: (6,000 - 3,500 B.C.)
The Early Archaic is poorly represented in Manitoba, perhaps because
of the drought conditions that were prevalent during the time. What
little evidence has been uncovered has been located mainly in the river
valleys of the Plains region. Limited remains of Logan Creek and
Mummy Cave complexes indicate a movement into the province from
the south and west. Small side notched atlatl points are typical of the
traditions. Hunting of modern bison formed the dominant subsistence
base, although increasing extensive use was made of a broad
spectrum of animal and plant resources.
Late Archaic (3,500 B.C. - 1 A.D.)
In contrast to the previous period, the Late Archaic is well represented
in Manitoba and was probably a time of substantial in-migration and
population increase that occurred with an increase in precipitation.
Numerous complexes developed in many parts of the province
including:
The Plains, represented by three distinct traditions, possibly indicative
of an emerging cultural diversity:
Late Plains Arachaic Point Styles
Oxbow
McKean
The Boreal Forest, represented by
The Shield Archaic
The Old Copper Culture
Pelican Lake
Although not formally included in the Archaic, the Subarctic and Arctic
zones underwent similar types of transformations in the course of
development of the PreDorset phase, also known as the Arctic Small
Tools Tradition.
Around two thousand years ago the Archaic Period gave way to a new
era of major technological and cultural development, known as the
Woodland Period.
The Woodland Period 200 B.C. - A.D. 1750
The term "Woodland" has been coined to label
the late archaeological cultures developed by
Native North American peoples throughout the
eastern and mid-western parts of the continent.
It is named after the Eastern Woodland
environmental zone in which it first developed
and is characterized by
• pottery manufacture,
• the construction of elaborate burial mounds,
• the use of the bow and arrow.
• cultivation of maize and other crops.
In many parts of the world, these traits indicate a major transition in
subsistence and settlement involving the growth of an agricultural
village way of life known in Europe, Asia, and Africa as the Neolithic.
The North American Woodland is distinct, however, in that Native
peoples of this period retained a significant dependence on hunting
and gathering and carried out regular nomadic movements. In some
regions, particularly on the northern and western fringes, this basic
pattern remained in place until the time of European contact.
In the Mississippi Valley, it gave way the development of a fully
sedentary way of life termed Mississippian that includes the
magnificent architectural remains and art work of the TempleMound
builders. On the American Plains a similar trend led to the appearance
of Plains Village cultures. (You may be interested in visiting the
CrowCreek Web site, a detailed exhibit on a 14th century Plains Village
site in South Dakota)
In the course of its development, the Woodland complex spread
westward to many areas of the Plains resulting in the adoption of a
seemingly contradictory term "Plains Woodland". In Manitoba the
major elements of this tradition,
especially pottery and burial
mounds, were introduced
throughout the forest and prairie
regions just before the first
millennium A.D. Maize was also
grown on a limited scale, although
hunting of bison remained dominant
on the prairies, and mixed
economies based on hunting,
fishing, and wild rice gathering
characterized the Boreal Forest
subsistence regime.
The expansion of these foraging
economies were further enhanced by
the introduction of the bow-andarrow. Although large agricultural
settlements did not develop in the
Province, Manitoba First Nations
maintained important trading relationships and cultural exchanges with
Plains Village and Mississippian groups to the south and east.
A particularly interesting and crucial feature of the Woodland Period is
the appearance of significant aesthetic and ceremonial artifacts evident
in Native rock art. In Manitoba, this activity involved the elaborate
arrangement of rocks into animal shapes and geometric patterns,
technically termed petroforms, and the appearance of paintings,
pictographs, and engravings, petroglyphs, on rock surfaces.
Petroforms in the Shape of a Turtle and Snake
Whiteshell Provincial Park
Cultures of the Manitoba Woodland Period
The Woodland Period is represented in the Plains and Forest regions of
the Province. It can be divided into two sub-periods:
1. Initial Woodland: 200 B.C. - A.D. 800 and
2. Terminal Woodland: A.D. 800 - 1750.
Initial Woodland (200 B.C. - A.D. 800).
This period marks the introduction of many technological items and
the development of new culture patterns. The use of the bow and
arrow and clay pottery spread rapidly in many areas of the province.
The arrowheads which tipped the shafts were much smaller than the
darts and spearheads of previous time. The new weaponry meant that
a variety of smaller mammals could be hunted and the range of the
hunting grounds increased. The Plains people in the western region of
the province continued to hunt bison using pounds and surrounds to
capture the animals. Two early groups of people referred to as Besant
and Sonota dominated the prairie landscape. The Richards Kill Site, a
bison pound, and the Avery Site, a campsite, are examples of the
Initial Woodland on the Plains. In southwestern Manitoba, the Avonlea
culture reflected important contacts and influences from Sasketchwan
and Alberta.
Sonota Points
In the Boreal Forest of the east and southeast section of Manitoba,
Woodland people were hunting game, fishing and harvesting wild rice
and a variety of nuts and berries. At the Wanipigow Site, carbonized
wild rice and numerous other plant remains were excavated along with
animal bones indicating a diverse and flexible use of resources. Local
cultures of the period are characterized by a specific type of clay
pottery known as Laurel, which is named after a town in Minnesota
where the style was first discovered. Burial and ceremonial mounds
are closely associated with this cultural group.
Terminal Woodland (A.D. 800 - A.D. 1750)
The final phases of the Woodland Period were marked by even more
dramatic changes. Maize farming spread northwards into Manitoba.
Small-scale gardening demanded a commitment from the people who
planted the crops, to return at some point to tend the gardens and
harvest them. The Lockport Site, on the east bank of the Red River at
Lockport, Manitoba is the best example of local horticultural ways of
life. Mound-building spread across the southern portion of the
province. The most northerly example located to date is the Arden
Mound near Neepawa, Manitoba.
An interesting cultural group which had its roots in the Boreal Forest
also used the resources of the Plains. The Blackduck culture produced
a distinctive, highly decorative type of ceramic vessel, which may have
originated in southern Ontario and northern
Michigan or developed in northwestern Ontario out
of the Laurel tradition. The ceramic style spread
across the Lake Superior Basin and into parts of
south and central Manitoba possibly in the course
of the migration of the historic Ojibwe people. The
Stott Site on the Assiniboine River near Brandon is
an excellent example of these Boreal Forest
migrants adapting to a Plains environment during
this period.
Northern Traditions.
At the same time as Woodland complexes were spreading throughout
the southern half of the province, the northern portion became settled
by new cultural and linguistic families.
At the end of the Archaic Period, the Pre-Dorset culture disappeared
and was replaced by a new Arctic coastal people, the Dorset (ca 800
B.C. - A.D. 800). In Manitoba, the maritime economy of the Dorset
people is represented only in the Churchill area and is considered to be
short lived.
The Taltheilei, the probable ancestors of today's Dene people, occupied
a vast tract of land which stretched from the barren grounds far to the
north in the Northwest Territories, to as far south as Southern Indian
Lake . Their technology was quite different from the Woodland groups
to the south, and no pottery has ever been found at any Taltheilei
sites. The people followed the barren ground caribou migrations and
supplemented the meat from the herds with fish.
The End of an Era
The Woodland Period represents the final era of Manitoba's precontact
history. It ended in the 18th century with the coming of the fur
traders, who opened the Postcontact Period and formed the first wave
of European influence that was to eventually lead to the resettlement
of Manitoba and the decline of a vital and fascinating way of life.
Besant-Sonota Phase
(A.D. 1 – 800)
The Besant culture is the earliest representation of the Woodland
tradition on the northern Plains. The Native peoples who developed it
arrived in the Province approximately 2000 years ago and were the
first inhabitants of the local prairie to use and manufacture ceramics.
Like the other Plains peoples, Besant groups were heavily dependent
upon bison hunting and were skilled in constructing jumps and pounds.
They manufactured side-notched atlatl dart points using local stone as
well as Knife River Flint and other materials imported from the south
(Walde, Meyer and Unfreed 1995:18). Important sites that exemplify
the phase include the Richard's Kill Site (Hlady 1967), where a
depression on grasslands was used to confine bison for slaughter, and
the Avery Site (Joyes 1969) in southern Manitoba, where evidence of
meat processing was discovered.
There is considerable debate about the relationship between Besant
and the Sonota cultures. The pottery styles are quite similar although
the elaborate burial customs of the Sonota, which included obsidian
and pipestone offerings, are not found among the Besant remains. The
classification of projectile points is also ambiguous. Hlady (1967) first
reported the Richard's Kill Site as belonging to the Besant Phase and
determined that the arrow heads as Besant as well. However, the
elongated Knife River Flint points from the site have been reclassified
as Sonota. Following Gregg (1994), we will treat Besant-Sonota as a
combined category since they share stylistically diagnostic artifacts
and occupy the same geographic region.
Environmental Setting
During the time that the Richard's Kill Site and the Avery Site were
used by Besant-Sonota peoples, the climate was slightly wetter than
present-day conditions. Like the earlier Archaic bison hunters, the
Besant-Sonota movements on the Plains were dictated by the bison.
The herds moved onto the open grasslands in the southwestern
portion of Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and Alberta during the
late spring and early summer. In the fall, they took shelter in the
wooded areas along the river valleys and at the edges of the
grasslands (Morgan 1980). These areas were generally well watered,
and supported a wider range of plant and animal resources than were
available on the open grassland, making them attractive to human
occupation.
The Richard's Kill Site was located in a shallow slough or pothole on
the prairie of southwestern Manitoba near Killarney. Sloughs, or
swampy depressions such as those found at the Richard's Kill Site
were ideal locations for trapping bison during a hunt. The animals
became mired in the thick mud and were easily killed.
The habitation area at the Avery Site was located on a terrace above
the northeastern shore of Rock Lake. Here, the wooded slopes of the
Pembina River Valley provided shelter from the open grasslands and
alternative resources were available. Firewood, fish, deer, elk, bear
and a wide range of plants, in addition to bison, were readily available.
Subsistence and Technology
In southwestern Manitoba just outside of Killarney, Mr. J. C. Richards
and his family discovered over one hundred projectile points and
several end scrapers on their farm property. Closer examination by
archaeologist, Walter M. Hlady, in 1967, revealed that the location had
been used by Besant-Sonota hunters as a bison pound kill site. The
large size of the projectile points indicate the atlatl still served as the
primary hunting weapon. Twenty-three large, side-notched Sonota and
Besant points were recovered. The majority of the points from the site
were manufactured from Knife River Flint.
Besant Points
Sonota Points
The Richard's Kill Site represents only one component of BesantSonota life, bison pounding. Avery Site provides a more complex and
complete picture which represents thousands of years habitation. The
inhabitants used resources from the nearby lake and forest in addition
to hunting bison. The many artifacts recovered indicate that the site
was used for extended periods of time probably as a primary bison
meat processing location. Evidence suggests that as many as 800
animals were butchered and dressed during a single habitation season
from August - December. The absence of bison fetus or calf remains
indicates that the site was not occupied during the spring. The bison
bone remains are almost entirely smashed into splinters that measure
not more than several inches in length. After the bone was broken, it
was boiled so that the grease would float to the surface of the pot and
could be collected to eat or to be used in making pemmican. Deer,
antelope and rodent remains were also recovered (Joyes 1970:214).
Besant pottery represents the earliest ceramic tradition on the Plains
and is believed to have been introduced from the Missouri River in
South Dakota. At the Avery Site, Besant clay pots were recovered in
association with Besant-Sonota style projectile points. They were
coarsely made and undecorated and assumed globular shapes with no
necks (Joyes 1969:122-124). At least some of the Besant-Sonota pots
or "Avery Corded Ware" were manufactured using cords of clay placed
one on top of the other (Joyes 1969:124). The pots were used to cook
food as indicated by the carbon found adhering to the interiors of the
potsherds (Joyes 1969:123).
Social and Economic Organization
Woodland cultures such as Beasant-Sonota are known for their
extensive exchange networks. The principal routes of long-distance
trade were probably along the waterways. North-south trade occurred
linking the Red River Valley to the Gulf of Mexico via the via the
Mississippi River system. Besant-Sonota people were probably
introduced to ceramic technology via these trading links. Trade goods
located in Besant-Sonota sites include Knife River Flint from western
North Dakota, copper from the Upper Great Lakes region, shell from
the Illinois and Ohio rivers and Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts
(Gregg 1994:76).
Avonlea Phase
(A.D. 500 – 800)
I go to kill the buffalo. The Great Spirit sent the buffalo. On hills, the plains and
woods. So give me my bow; give me my bow; I go to kill the buffalo .
Sioux
Song (from Freedman 1988:50).
For a limited time, another distinct Aboriginal Plains culture, Avonlea
(A.D. 500-800), co-existed with Besant-Sonota on the prairies and
reflected a similar subsistence strategy. Both peoples relied on the
bison and used pounds and jumps. Besant-Sonota groups continued to
use the atlatl for hunting, while the Avonlea utilized and developed the
new bow and arrow technology. The finely crafted side-notched
Avonlea points are much smaller and thinner than Besant or Sonota
forms and represent a clearly distinct tradition. Avonlea people
restricted their movements mainly to southern Saskatchewan, and
Alberta. Their presence in Manitoba is concentrated primarily along the
western edge of the province, where they are often found along with
Beasant-Sonota tools.
Environmental Setting
Avonlea peoples inhabited the short grass prairie of south and central
Saskatchewan, Alberta and western Manitoba. The Avonlea sites in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba indicate a seasonal dependence on fish
and small game as well as bison (Landals et al, 1995:18; Bryan
1991:121). The locations of many Avonlea sites in riverine
environments and the lack of bison remains at some of these sites
supports this hypothesis (Smith and Walker 1988).
The arrival of the people who used the Avonlea tool kit is a source of
some debate. Some archaeologists maintain that Avonlea points had
their origins in the Mississippi Valley. Others believe that their pottery
styles bear similarities to ceramics from the Eastern Woodlands of
Manitoba and Minnesota (Nicholson 1987:43), suggesting migration
from the east. Still another theory proposes that Avonlea projectile
points developed from the earlier Pelican Lake style that was already
present on the Canadian Plains, and that no movement of people
occurred.
Subsistence and Technology
The small, thin, and delicately crafted projectile points that
characterize the Avonlea phase are marked by by side notching and
slight concavities at their bases. They have been recovered from only
a few Manitoba sites: Moncur Farm, Avery, Miniota, Belleview Plateau,
May Grompf, Stott, and the Pas Reserve. Archaeologists believe that
these artifacts were the first arrowheads on the Canadian Plains. The
use of bows and arrows replaced atlatls for bison hunting, since the
arrows were smaller and lighter and therefore easier to carry and the
bow allowed for a longer range and greater accuracy and velocity.
The clay pots that are associated with Avenolea culture are of two
types, globular and cone shaped. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba the
cone shaped forms are the most common, while globular ones are
found frequently in Alberta sites. Avonlea pots from Manitoba and
Saskatchewan usually have a textured exterior surface which is likely
the product of a woven or netted fabric impression applied to the
damp, pliable clay during the manufacturing process. Punctates, spiral
channels and smoothed outside walls were also used (Syms 1977,
Bryne 1973). The partly reconstructed vessel recovered from the
Miniota Site is believed to have been 39 cm high, conoidal in shape,
and net-impressed with a double row of free-flowing rectangular
punctates around the rim (Landals et al. 1995:11).
Other artifact types associated with Avonlea include bone tools
(Landals et al. 1995:15), end scrapers, wedges, and bifaces.
Bison constituted the primary resource, although fish and small
mammal were also exploited. The bison jumps and pounds that were
constructed to facilitate hunting required considerable communal
organization. At the "classic" Avonlea sites, such as Head-Smashed-In
Buffalo Jump and Gull Lake, the cooperation of large groups of people
was required to confine stampeding bison within constructed drive
lanes. After the kill, the processing of bison products required
intensive community work as the meat was butchered , smoked, and
dried, and the heavy hides prepared for other uses such as tent
coverings, clothing, and tools. The massive bone beds that
characterize the Avonlea bison kill sites are highly visible due to
natural erosion that has exposed the bones and the sheer numbers of
animals slaughtered, a consequence of the efficiency of communal
organization and the power of the bow and arrow.
Settlement and Social Organization
Little evidence of the types of shelters is found except for the
numerous stone circles which dot the Plains. Coordinated bison drives
suggest a high degree of cohesive community organization in which
the members of several different bands may have participated.
http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/manarchnet/chronology/archaic/