Ancient bison remains found in post-flood Calgary
Posted Aug 10, 2013 9:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Something old, something new, and, if the remains are tampered with, an archeologist who’s somewhat blue.
The June floods have turned up something very old in one of the city’s newer neighbourhoods: the near complete skeleton of an ancient bison.
The remains have been found along the banks of the flood-ravaged Bow River in Douglasdale.
According to Bob Dawe, an archeologist with the Royal Alberta Museum, they belong to a young buffalo, dating back several hundred or even several thousand years. He speculates, because the skeleton is virtually intact, the young bison may have died falling through the spring ice.
Dawe tells the Calgary Herald that he has some rib bones to perform carbon dating on, which because of the expense, is something that’s not done with every archaeological find.
All that’s missing from the skeleton is the skull which Dawe speculates was taken by souvenir hunters. He says it’s great that people have an interest in artifacts but it’s important that they leave them intact so scientists can investigate the finds.
