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Brandon University researchers want your help at an archaeological dig in southwest Manitoba.

Back in 2018, researchers uncovered modified bison bones just south of Melita that were once used as hoe blades by pre-contact Indigenous peoples.

Initial testing of the site began in 2019, and a public archaeology program is planned for this summer.

Brandon University Department of Anthropology Professor Dr. Mary Malainey explains what they hope to learn.

“We want to know what they were doing, where they were living, and we hope to identify things like habitation sites, the relationship between the people who lived there and how they used the valley – basically all of their lifeways.”

The team is holding public archaeology activities on July 18th - 26th, where there will be presentations, site tours. You'll also be able to help excavate the site with professional archaeologists.

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