Heritage Character Statement
Excavations Of Sites In And Around 12 Mile Coulee Have Shown This Area To Be The Scene Of Some Of The Earliest Native Precontact Sites Within The Calgary Area. Use Of The Coulee And Surrounding Lands Continued Until Early Historic Times When The Topographic Feature Became A Named Landmark On The Historic Morley Trail.
Summary History
Description Of Site:
The Archaeological Complex Is Located On A Site Known As 12 Mile Coulee. 12 Mile Coulee Natural Environment Park Lies South Of Crowchild Trail And Immediately West Of Stoney Trail. The Entire Length Of The Coulee Is Just Over 10Km-Long. While The Upper Reaches Of The Coulee Beyond The Park Limits Are Characterized By A Wider U-Shaped Valley With Several Small Tributary Valleys On The Sides, The Character Of The Coulee Differs Greatly Within The Confines Of The Park, Where It Changes To A Narrow, Deeply Incised Valley Before Spilling Out Into The Bow River Valley
Date Of Construction:
Excavations Of Various Sites Associated With This Complex Indicate The Area Was Extensively Used Over The Last Seven To Eight Thousand Years
Summary Of Archaeological Evidence
The 12 Mile Coulee Archaeological Complex Includes Over 15 Identified Sites. These Sites Range From Ring (Stone Tipi Circles) Sites And Small Artifact Scatters, To Stone Cairns Found Along The Coulee's Edge. Archaeological Research Within The Coulee And Beyond Indicates That The Area Was An Important Location In Much Earlier Times, When Native Inhabitants In The Region Hunted Buffalo, Antelope, And Other Animals Here More Than 7,000 Years Ago. Over The Succeeding Millennia, As Cultural Adaptations To The Local Environment Continued To Change, The Coulee And Surrounding Uplands Became A Focus For Harvesting Fresh Foods In The Early Months Of Spring, As Indicated By The Many Small Short-Term Campsites Found Throughout This Area.
The Sites Located In And Around 12 Mile Coulee Serve To Characterize Site Types Here And The Nature And Time Span Of Human Use Of The Coulee. Although There Is No Record Of When People First Arrived In Calgary Area, We Do Know That Some Of The Earliest Sites Which Have Been Recorded In The City Are Located In Or Adjacent To 12 Mile Coulee. Archaeological Finds Recovered From The Ever Blue Springs Site (Egpn-700) (Vivian 2006) And Other Nearby Locations Indicate The Coulee Was A Favoured Location For Trapping And Hunting Buffalo In Springs On The Margins Of The Coulee Over 7,000 Years Ago. The Ever Blue Springs Site Is Particularly Noteworthy In That It Is The Third Oldest Bison Killsite Excavated In Alberta To Date. Not Only Buffalo Were Hunted There, But The Warmer Climate Of The Time Allowed Antelope And Other Animals To Flourish In The Area, And These Were Also Hunted When The Opportunity Presented Itself.
Radiocarbon Dating And The Presence Of Mazama Ash Have Helped To Establish The Age Of The Ever Blue Springs Site And Other Smaller Killsites In The Area To Between 7,000 And 8,000 Years. The Mazama Ash, A Volcanic Tephra Which Originates From Crater Lake In Southern Oregon And Dates To Ca. 6800 Years Ago. It Is A Well Known Stratigraphic Marker Throughout Southern Alberta. The Combination Of These Buried Soils And Ash Indicate That These Land Surfaces Have Been Stable For 7,000 Years Or More.
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