Description of Historic Place

The Wamsley Bridge Site is a Municipal Heritage Property located on the bank of the Wood River, approximately 20 kilometres north of the Town of Gravelbourg. The property contains at least nine buried layers of butchered bison bone and hearth remains that have been partially exposed in a road cut. It is likely that intact deposits containing additional archaeological material still exist in the undisturbed portions of the 32 ha property.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Wamsley Bridge Site resides in its archaeological remains and the information they contain regarding the livelihood of precontact First Nations. Based on observations of the exposed occupation layers, the site appears to have been repeatedly used over a long period of time for butchering and processing bison. As such, the site has potential to contribute important information about First Nations’ use of this vital resource. By comparing the remains in the various layers, questions of cultural change and stability through time can also be investigated.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Gravelbourg No. 104 Bylaw No. 7/81.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Wamsley Bridge site resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that reflect precontact occupation of the site and the processing of bison, including bone, artifacts, archaeological features such as hearths, and the spatial relationships among the cultural remains;
-elements that contribute to an understanding of the site’s past environment, including its native vegetation and undisturbed landforms, and the stratigraphic sequence of soil sediments with their contained occupation layers and organic remains.