Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Alberta, is the best-known buffalo jump on the Great Plains. Used for nearly 6,000 years—and perhaps longer—the site enabled Blackfoot people to harvest millions of pounds of bison meat, hides, bones, and other resources. In Episode 52, Chris and Carlton speak with Drs. Shawn Bubel and Kevin McGeough of the University of Lethbridge about their recent Plains Anthropologist article on this keystone site in Blackfoot culture. Part 1 introduces the history of Head-Smashed-In and buffalo jumps more broadly, explaining how these hunts worked and the immense scale of the operations. This foundation sets up Part 2, which explores why Head-Smashed-In was far more than a “meat factory”: it also preserved generations of Blackfoot wealth, knowledge, and culture.

Article Citation:

Shawn Bubel and Kevin McGeough (04 Jun 2026) Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: The Durative Power of Keystone Institutions and Embedded Knowledge. Plains Anthropologist, in press.

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  • For rough transcripts of this episode go to https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/great-plains-archaeology/52

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