Unit 5
The First Albertans

This unit provides you with an overview of the earliest cultures to live in northwestern North America. While some archaeologists propose that people first moved onto this continent some 60,000 years ago, others offer more conservative estimates of approximately 11,000 years ago. This unit provides a brief description and interpretation of the often controversial evidence that indicates how Canada was first settled.

This unit also describes the first peoples of Alberta: where they lived, when they lived, and how they lived. Alberta contains some of the most exciting and controversial “early people” sites in the Americas. Because parts of Alberta may have been ice-free during the last major glaciation, many archaeologists have hoped that Alberta would yield evidence of the earliest human travels down onto the rest of the continent. Dates as early as 60,000 years ago have been proposed for some of the archaeological remains found in this province. However, as you will read, this evidence has recently been re-examined and re-evaluated.

Currently, Alberta has no well-dated sites dated prior to 10,500 years ago. However, environmental evidence indicates that much of this province was covered by grassland that could have supported large populations of game, including bison and horse. Therefore, there is no good reason why Alberta could not have been occupied at this time.

Learning Objectives

When you have completed this unit, you should be able to

1. describe the environmental restrictions the initial migrants to northwest North America faced.
2. describe the biological and cultural clues that indicate the Asian ancestry of Aboriginal Canadians.
3. discuss the factors that make it difficult to address the question of whether or not people were living in North America before the last glaciation.
4. describe and discuss the reliability of the evidence for the earliest occupations in North and South America.
5. compare and contrast the various Paleo-Indian cultures discussed in this unit.
6. describe and discuss the evidence and both interpretations of the significance of the Taber Child.
7. describe and compare the sites that provide the most data on the earliest occupation of Alberta.
8. outline the current interpretations of the Clovis culture in Alberta, with particular emphasis on technological characteristics.