Qualla: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lazarus000, CC BY-SA 4.0. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved buffalo kill sites in North America. For nearly 6,000 years, indigenous peoples of the northern Great Plains drove buffalo herds over these sandstone cliffs in southern Alberta, killing animals by the hundreds in single events. The bone deposits at the cliff's base are 40 feet deep - the accumulated remains of tens of thousands of buffalo, layer upon layer of death that sustained generations of Blackfoot people. The name comes from a Blackfoot legend about a young man who wanted to watch the buffalo fall and stood beneath the cliff; he was found dead, his skull crushed by falling animals. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most important archaeological locations on the continent, and a testament to the sophisticated hunting cultures that existed before European contact.

Image: Lazarus000 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: The Technique

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Buffalo jumps were communal hunts requiring sophisticated planning and cooperation. Hunters couldn't simply chase buffalo over a cliff; the animals were too wary and too fast. Instead, the Blackfoot created drive lanes - lines of stone cairns and people stretching miles back from...

Image: Public domain

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: The Processing

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mike from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0. The killing was just the beginning. Below the cliff, the butchering camp processed the carcasses. Meat was cut into strips for drying into jerky or pounded with fat and berries into pemmican, which could last for years. Hides were scraped and tanned. Bones became tools. Sinew bec...

Image: Mike from Vancouver, Canada | CC BY-SA 2.0

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: The Archaeology

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ken Thomas, Public domain. Head-Smashed-In has been investigated since the 1930s. The bone deposits reach 40 feet deep in places, representing approximately 5,700 years of use. Stone tools, fire pits, and processing artifacts are mixed with the bones. Drive lane cairns extend 8 miles back from the cliff, v...

Image: Ken Thomas | Public domain

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: The End

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kim Siever from Lethbridge, AB, Canada, CC0. Buffalo jumps became obsolete when horses arrived on the Great Plains in the 1700s. Mounted hunters could kill buffalo more efficiently and selectively than jump drives allowed. The last recorded use of Head-Smashed-In was around 1850. By 1880, the great herds were gone entirely ...

Image: Kim Siever from Lethbridge, AB, Canada | CC0

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: Visiting Head-Smashed-In

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit XeresNelro, CC BY-SA 4.0. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located 18 km northwest of Fort Macleod in southern Alberta, Canada. The interpretive center is built into the cliff face itself, preserving the landscape while providing seven levels of exhibits on Blackfoot culture and buffalo hunting. Guided tou...

Image: XeresNelro | CC BY-SA 4.0