University of Saskatchewan archaeology students unearthed what they believe to be a 4,000-year-old bison jawbone at Wanuskewin Heritage Park on Friday.
Andrew McDonald is the sales and marketing manager at Wanuskewin.
He says what is remarkable about the bison jawbone is not only its age but also the condition the students found it in.
“To see a bison mandible whole like this, in such good condition and of course being as old as it is, is quite rare,” he says. “So we’re very excited about this find, this year.”
McDonald says the students needed to quickly move the bison jawbone to the U of S once it was unearthed, to take measures to ensure it is preserved.
Devon Stumborg, a graduate student in archaeology who was at the site, says once the bison jawbone was fully unearthed, they had to move quickly to ensure it is preserved.
“We uncovered today and had to get it out immediately,” he says. “So we covered it in tinfoil with a bunch of surrounding sediment to keep everything moist because once you dry something out that’s been in moist ground for thousands of years it starts to crack and fall apart.”
The students discovered the bison jaw between three and four feet below the earth’s surface at the Wolf Willow dig site.
They have been working at this particular site for the past few years and some of the other artifacts that students have found are an elk tooth that had been made into a necklace and a musket ball.