Bison Skull Unearthed in Alberta Creek Sparks Archaeological Curiosity

Dominic Boon, an avid fly-fisher who lives near Banff, Alberta, noticed an unusual object protruding from a creek while out with friends. He filmed the find and posted the video to his Instagram account. Initially his companions thought the object might be a cow skull, but Boon recognized the horns and concluded it was a bison. The skull weighed roughly a couple of kilograms and was recovered the same day it was spotted.

Newsweek

Bo on contacted Dr. Chris Jass, curator of Quaternary Studies at the Royal Alberta Museum. Dr. Jass confirmed the specimen as a bison cranium and said its morphology suggests it could be as old as 5,000 years, though the exact age remains uncertain; the skull might be as recent as 150 years. An article from the U.S. National Park Service explains that rapid burial can preserve animal remains by shielding them from scavengers, decomposition and weathering, a process that may account for the skull’s intact condition.

Newsweek

The discovery followed an unusually rainy summer that set a record for precipitation in Alberta’s capital, according to The Canadian Press. Bo on believes the heavy rainfall washed sediment from the banks and exposed the long-buried skull. The find also relates to the dramatic decline of bison in the province. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Northern Alberta notes that plains bison once numbered more than 30 million across North America but were nearly eliminated in Canada by the late 1880s due to overexploitation, habitat loss and disease. Wood bison populations fell from over 170,000 to as few as 200, and today Alberta supports an estimated 2,800 free-ranging wild wood bison, while plains bison occupy less than 1 percent of their historic Canadian range.

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Boon intends to transport the skull to the Royal Alberta Museum, located about three hours away, where museum staff will measure, weigh, scan and photograph the specimen to gather further data.

Newsweek

Although the precise age of the cranium is unknown, the skull offers a rare physical link to Alberta’s bison heritage, potentially spanning centuries of ecological change. Its preservation highlights how extreme weather events can reveal hidden archaeological material, and the specimen may contribute to ongoing research into the region’s prehistoric megafauna and the recent recovery of bison populations.

Newsweek