Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located in the Porcupine Hills of southwestern Alberta, Canada. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has an Interpretive Centre run by mostly Blackfoot staff that has hosted over two million visitors since 1987. The site is actually an elaborate complex spread across the landscape where, for at least the past 6,500 years, hunters used the natural topography to drive herds of bison off cliff edges and then process the animals in the vicinity. Indigenous peoples used this hunting tradition for countless generations, only stopping in the nineteenth century because of European contact. While there are around ten cliffs in the Porcupine Hills that may have been used for these purposes, there are two within this area (Head-Smashed-In and Calderwood) as well as the associated drive lanes, campsites, and processing areas. The site is remarkable not just for its striking topography but for its long-term use as an important and ingenious component of subsistence and cultural practice in the northwestern Great Plains. It is one of the most important locations of Indigenous heritage.

Our work at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump aims to clarify chronological and contextual issues related to the earliest occupation phases at the site, evaluate the relationships between different parts of the site, and identify earlier uses than those currently well-documented. In our first years of the project (2021, 2022, and 2024), our team discovered stone artifacts and bone fragments dating between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago, the oldest artifacts ever excavated at the site. This season (2026), a team of field school students will return to the site to find more traces of these early hunters. Through this project, students will learn about the site and develop key skills necessary in North American archaeology. We will excavate in targeted areas and conduct supplemental testing, surveying, and mapping in three other areas. During the field school students will have an opportunity to excavate in both areas and process the archaeological materials they unearth in the laboratory.

All field school directors are experts in their field and passionate about their work. To discuss the suitability of this program for your career goals – whether within or outside academia – you are invited to contact the directors directly. For a broader discussion which ARC program to choose, you are welcome to contact our staff directly – you can do that through our “Contact Us” page.

Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Geography & Environment (Archaeology), University of Lethbridge (Canada)

Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Geography & Environment (Archaeology), University of Lethbridge (Canada)

Assistant Curator of Archaeology Royal Alberta Museum (Canada)

• Application: You must apply online for this program – application is free
• Deposit: A $300 nonrefundable deposit (part of the total tuition cost) is required to secure a space in the program
• Credit Card Fee: Payments with credits cards incur 3% processing fee
• Late Fee: A $100 Late Fee will be added to the program costs if tuition is not paid in full by payment deadline
• Cancellation Policy: Carefully read our Cancellation Policy before committing to attending our programs
• Trip Cancellation Insurance: Trip cancellation insurance is not provided by ARC. Such policies have changed due to Covid 19. If you wish to purchase an insurance policy that covers pandemic contingencies, explore Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) plans. Insuremytrip or Travel Guard are possible websites where you may explore different insurance policies.

During the four-week excavation component of the field school, students and directors live at the campground (basecamp) just south of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Students must bring their own tent, sleeping bag, air mattress/cot, towels, and other personal items (shampoo, soap, etc.). There are washrooms, showers, and laundry facilities at basecamp.

During the last (fifth) week of the field school, students will transition to the Westcastle field station, where students may choose shared rooms or the pivacy of their tents.

A camp kitchen will be constructed upon arrival at basecamp. The field school team prepares well-balanced, nutritious meals together. Since these are group meals, individual dietary needs will be accommodated as best as possible, although it is not possible to be fully gluten free, kosher, etc. There will be meat or dairy, vegetables, and starch (rice, potatoes, bread, etc.) choices. Breakfasts and dinners are prepared and eaten at basecamp. Individual lunches are packed in the morning and are taken to the site along with water containers.

During the last (fifth) week of the field school, students will transition to the Westcastle field station, where all meals will be prepared together.

We suggest you hold off purchasing your airline ticket until six (6) weeks before the program begins. Natural disasters, political changes, weather conditions & a range of other factors may require the cancellation of a field school. ARC typically makes a final Go/No Go decision six weeks before program begins. To protect students from potential financial loss, we urge you to purchase airline tickets only six weeks prior to a program beginning.

On May 31, students should depart from the Calgary Airport using Red Arrow/Felix bus services and arrive at Fort Macleod in the early afternoon (see syllabus for details). The instructors will meet students at the bus station in Fort Macleod (Shell Gas Station) and transport them to the field camp. On July 5 – the last day of the field school – students should take the late bus from Fort Macleod to the Calgary airport. It is best to book bus tickets within a few weeks of the travel date as schedules frequently change. Please contact one of the directors before booking your travel!

US citizens need to have a valid passport, a return flight ticket, and proof of sufficient funds for entry to Canada. Although the Canadian government does not require that a passport be valid for three months from the date of entry, airlines routinely do so and may decline boarding if a traveler has less than three months validity on their passport.

At the time of writing this syllabus, US Citizens are not required to complete eTA documentation. This may change by the time this field school takes place and students must check with Canadian Authorities (see this Canadian Government website).