Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is an important historic site to the Blackfoot people, and is designated as a Provincial Historic Resource, National Historic Site, and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Southwestern Alberta. The significance of this site lies within its historical, archaeological, traditional, and scientific value. The archaeological layers of this site indicate use by the Indigenous Plains nations stretching back at least 6,000 years. Head-Smashed-In is one of the oldest, most extensive, and best-preserved examples of a buffalo jump in North America. Overall, this site and the surrounding landscape is a hugely valuable representation of this traditional hunting method used by Plains Nations until the late 19th century.

Region:

Southwest Alberta

Field Documentation:

October 12, 2019

Field Documentation Type:

Photogrammetry

Culture:

Blackfoot

Historic Period:

Latitude:

49.702025

Longitude:

-113.655234

Datum Type:

NAD 27

Threat Level

These photos show photos of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump at various points in time, as well as related images. Images have been sourced from The Blackfoot Confederacy, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site, a post from the RETROactive by Todd Kristensen, and the Capture2Preserv Team.

Map of the traditional territory of the Blackfoot.

Modern tipi at the Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

View from the top of the cliff at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.

Interpretive centre at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site.

The cliff face that is part of the jump where the buffalo would have been driven over, at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

View of the jump from the pathways below the cliff.

View looking across the fields below the cliff at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Image from a 2016 excavation at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump showing the density of bone in the processing area. Shows a row of bison teeth with some mandible attached, with a scapula along the side, next to a complete calcaneous, with various pieces of broken long bone mixed in.

The scene is of stacked buffalo skulls from either Medicine Hat in southern Alberta in 1884 or from Saskatoon in Saskatchewan in 1890.

Infographic about Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, showing how the jump works.

Digitally Capturing Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Working in partnership with the Historic Resources Management Branch, this project was conducted by the School of Construction, Southern Albertan Insitute of Technology (SAIT). Two different surveys were conducted. A photogrammetric survey was conducted with a DJI Matrice 210 RTK drone with a DJI D-RTK 2 mobile station for real-time differential corrections covering the Head-Smashed-In Interpretation Centre and Buffalo Jump. The drone was flown with Pix4D Capture in nadir polygonal mission and the data processed in Pix4D Mapper producing an orthomosaic and Digital Surface Model (DSM). The terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) survey was conducted with a Leica C10 and a Licea BKL 360 and the data processed in Licea Cyclone. This survey covered the kill site trail and the top of the buffalo jump cliff face. To provide control points for both surveys a GPS survey was conducted with a Lecia GS14 Rover and base kit located on an Alberta Survey Control Marker (ASCM).

Laser Scanning and Photogrammetric Data

Registered and processed laser scanning data from SAIT at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Orthomosaic imagery from UAV photogrammetry flown by SAIT at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Open Access Data

This dataset was donated to the Alberta Digital Heritage Archive by Rick Duchscher, P.L. (Eng.), P.Tech. (Eng.), Centre for Innovation and Research in Unmanned Systems, Geomatics Engineering Technology, School of Construction, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).

The raw data files for this project are available for download from the archive repository. There are two file formats available: 3D point cloud in a .las file format and the orthomosaic tiles in world tiff file formats. Please download the metadata template to access metadata associated with each file. All data is published under the Attribution-Non-Commercial Creatives Common License CC BY-NC 4.0 and we would ask that you acknowledge this repository and data collectors in any research that results from the use of these data sets. The laser scanning data can be viewed and manipulated in CloudCompare an opensource software.

Head-Smashed-In UAV Photogrammerty Orthomosaic Data Set

Head-Smashed-In UAV Photogrammetry Metadata

Head-Smashed-In Laser Scanning Data Set

Head-Smashed-In Laser Scanning Metadata

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Threat Level

Background

Photo Gallery

Map

Capture Techniques

Data File

Video