Parks Canada staff are plunging under water for a history lesson, hoping to learn more about a 13,000-year-old camp site beneath Lake Minnewanka.
The same underwater archaeology team that located the HMS Investigator in Canada’s arctic is in Banff National Park until Wednesday to explore and unearth more information about a site that first became exposed on the shores of the lake about 50 years ago.
Over the years, visitors have found artifacts such as stone tools, spearheads, evidence of cooking, as well as Rocky Mountain sheep bones and about a decade ago archaeologists began excavating what was exposed.
Because of a dam located at the lake, water levels have risen over the last 100 years about 35 metres, which flooded the campsite and submerged it, said Marc-Andre Bernier, Ottawa-based archaeologist for Parks Canada.
Now archaeologists want to get a better handle on what is left of the campsite that holds real historical significance, said Bill Perry, a Calgary-based Parks Canada archaeologist.
“These were the first people as ice sheets were melting away,” Perry said.
“These people continued coming back — it was a well-situated campsite that put them in touch with resources like sheep and would have had nearby lakes and rivers and hot springs.
“It is a hugely significant thing to be found and Parks Canada is very committed to protecting it.”
Author: Katie Schneider | Source: Calgary Sun [October 21, 2011]
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| Parks Canada archaeologists Bill Perry, Brad Himour, Charles Dagneau and Marc-André Bernier examining lake-bed sediments taken out of a core sampling tube [Credit: Thierry Boyer/Parks Canada] |
Over the years, visitors have found artifacts such as stone tools, spearheads, evidence of cooking, as well as Rocky Mountain sheep bones and about a decade ago archaeologists began excavating what was exposed.
Because of a dam located at the lake, water levels have risen over the last 100 years about 35 metres, which flooded the campsite and submerged it, said Marc-Andre Bernier, Ottawa-based archaeologist for Parks Canada.
Now archaeologists want to get a better handle on what is left of the campsite that holds real historical significance, said Bill Perry, a Calgary-based Parks Canada archaeologist.
“These were the first people as ice sheets were melting away,” Perry said.
“These people continued coming back — it was a well-situated campsite that put them in touch with resources like sheep and would have had nearby lakes and rivers and hot springs.
“It is a hugely significant thing to be found and Parks Canada is very committed to protecting it.”
Author: Katie Schneider | Source: Calgary Sun [October 21, 2011]