ABSTRACT
The communal hunting of large mammals often included some kind of facility or structure for directing the animals toward the intended kill site. Yet despite the undeniable importance of the features as an integral part of communal hunt, the lanes have generally received little attention from archaeologists beyond cursory observation and mapping. The Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (HSI) is situated at the eastern edge of Porcupine Hills in southwestern Alberta. The placement of lanes at HSI consistently indicates an intentional manipulation of or utilization of topographic features such as ridge crests and rises. The drive lane cairn system used to bring bison from the collecting area to the jumpoff is one of the largest and most complex drive structures on the Plains. The use of brush has one significant advantage over the use of dung, sod, and rocks for cairn construction. More attention must be paid to the availability of local raw materials for cairn construction at individual kill sites.
