Moose Jaw Dig Uncovers 200,000 Artifacts Spanning 1,500 Years

A routine road construction project in Moose Jaw turned into an archaeological goldmine when workers uncovered evidence of 1,500 years of continuous human activity. The discovery has already yielded more than 200,000 artifacts and is challenging long-held beliefs about how Indigenous peoples lived in Saskatchewan before European contact.

The Garrett Site, as it's now called, was discovered during infrastructure work along Ninth Avenue South in the city's south end. When the first artifacts appeared, construction paused and archaeologists moved in.

What they found exceeded all expectations. Senior archaeologist Allen Korejbo from Respect Heritage Consulting led a team that conducted 117 shovel tests across the site. An astonishing 99 of those tests turned up archaeological material, suggesting the entire area is rich with history.

The site sits in a river valley that provided everything ancient peoples needed: fresh water, fish, timber, and natural shelter from the elements. Generation after generation returned to this spot, leaving behind stone tools, bone fragments, pottery, and evidence of countless campfires.

Some discoveries are particularly exciting. Archaeologists found pottery at the site, which is extremely rare in Saskatchewan. The style matches pottery found in the middle Missouri region of the United States, hundreds of miles away, hinting at ancient trade routes or shared cultural knowledge between distant groups.

Even more intriguing are the intact seeds preserved in the soil. These tiny time capsules could reveal whether people were cultivating plants here, a practice not commonly associated with pre-contact Saskatchewan societies. Scientists have traditionally understood these groups as primarily hunter-gatherers, but the Garrett Site is painting a more complex picture.

The Ripple Effect

This discovery is already bringing the community together in meaningful ways. Nature Moose Jaw, the Wakamow Valley Authority, the Regina Archaeological Society, and the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery have all joined forces to share the findings with the public.

The Moose Jaw Public Library is hosting a free presentation on April 17 where Korejbo will share detailed findings and answer questions. Library communicator Naomi Setter calls it "a really significant piece of Moose Jaw and local history."

The site is one of 19 known archaeological locations within city limits, part of a 2,300-year record of human occupation in Moose Jaw. Some nearby sites may date back 10,000 years. Korejbo notes that the preservation quality at the Garrett Site "far exceeds what is generally observed in archaeological sites in Saskatchewan."

Radiocarbon dating and soil analysis are still underway, promising more revelations about how people lived, what they ate, and how they connected with others across vast distances. Each artifact tells a story of resilience, ingenuity, and the deep human need to gather in places that sustain us.

A construction delay has become a window into thousands of years of human history, reminding us that remarkable discoveries can happen anywhere, even beneath our everyday streets.