During this time period bison became the dominant species of animal hunted in Saskatchewan. Most other large mammal species were dying out but bison were thriving in the new prairie opening up in the southern portion of the province.
| Dates: | 11,000 to 10,500 years yr BP. |
| Lithics: | Made from local lithic sources, usually quartzites and siltstones. The projectile points were fluted along their midline or basally thinned. |
| Technology: | Folsom projectile points were fluted along most of their length. They were hafted onto spear shafts. Midland points are similar but not fluted. Peoples' subsistence pattern consisted of generalized hunting for all kinds of game although bison were becoming the main prey species. |
| Distribution: | Southern Saskatchewan. |
| Sites: | There are 26 surface finds in Saskatchewan but there are no excavated sites. Surface finds cannot be dated, so the dates above have been generalized from excavated Clovis sites elsewhere in North America. |
| Environment: | Much of the province was ice-free by the end of this period. As the glaciers receded they left behind a huge volume of water. The moist earth resulted in the invasion of a spruce forest along the edges of the glacial ice sheet. This forest spread northward as the glaciers receded, covering much of the province. The melting of the glaciers slowed during a cooler and wetter period known as the Younger Dryas Event. This cooling period coincided with the advancement of many of the large glaciers. Eventually the drier conditions of the Boreal Period (9650 to 8450 yr BP) resulted in warm, dry summers. Grasslands began to move into the southern part of the province as the areas farther away from the glaciers began to dry up. By 9500 yr . the shores Glacial Lake Agassiz (pronounced a-ga-zee) had moved to the east. It was completely drained by 8500 yr BP. |
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