archaeology along canada's rocky mountain eastern slopes: Excavation at the Upper Lovett Campsite, Alberta

Canada's rocky mountains and the foothills of the Eastern Slopes are among the least-known areas in North America. Here, Meyer and Roe explore the Upper Lovett Campsite to help demonstrate that Canada's native peoples not only lived along the Rockies' Eastern Slopes for thousand of years, but did so quite far to the north with heavy occupations in some areas of the foothills extending well back over 5,000 years. Given the regional data they collect in their cultural resource management (CRM) survey work, it became apparent that excavations could make a substantial contribution to understanding the Precontact peoples in North America. Their excavation uncovered a 30 msup2 area that produced artifacts primarily between 5 and 25 cm below the surface. The most interesting artifacts they recovered were the 100 stone tools. These included four projectile points, many large quartzite bifaces and unifaces, and a few scrappers for working hides. Moreover, as their analysis continues and new information is added on Precontact times along the Canadian Rockies' Eastern Slopes will develop by providing valuable information about the region's rich history.