Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Alberta

Where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains, you will discover one of the world’s oldest, largest, and best preserved buffalo jumps. The Jump bears witness to a method of hunting practiced by native people of the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years.

In 1981, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump as a World Heritage Site placing it among other world heritage monuments such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Galapagos Islands.

This archaeological site, known around the world, preserves the remarkable history of the Plains People through the millennia. Because of their excellent understanding of the regional topography and bison behaviour, the native people were able to hunt bison by stampeding them over a cliff. They then carved up the carcasses and dragged the pieces to be butchered and processed in the butchering camp set up on the flats beyond the cliffs.