A group of researchers from the University of Saskatchewan has completed a survey of Aboriginal rock patterns in the Cabri Lake area.
Dr Margaret Kennedy is an associate professor with the Department of Archeology and part of the fieldwork.
She says there is a huge collection of rock patterns in the prairie and the area was in use as far back as 13,000 years ago.
“What we are looking at are the past remains of the ones that survive particularly in stone form of former habitations, former drive lines that are associated possibly with running animals, driving animals to jumps and also long lines that are ceremonial features possibly,” she says.
Kennedy adds the area they are working on is huge, spanning many square kilometers and several types of rock patterns.
“We’re just inventorying, so we’re just walking the land and we are recording what we find with GPS so we record the location but we are not digging anything,” she says.
Kennedy says photographs are also being taken and all of the information is submitted to the university for further evaluation.
Because the area is so large, the project is expected to last over several summers and eventually the research findings will be published.