The Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern Alberta, near Fort Macleod. It received its designation because it is one of the oldest, best preserved, and most used of the buffalo jumps around the world. It may seem a bit brutal now, but Plains Indians organized big bison slaughters to help them prepare for winters. Through well planned actions, they would herd hundreds, if not a thousand or more bison to their death by stampeding them over a cliff. At the bottom of these cliffs, they had the equivalent of a bison processing plant. They would skin the animals and then preserve the meat on site, and they used the skins and bones for clothing, shelter, and tools. Bones that were not used were left on site, and the massive pileup of bones at the bottom of the cliffs was partly how this site was discovered. Archaeological evidence suggests this site was used in this way for about 6,000 years. This site has mounds of bones about 10 metres / 35 feet deep just below the cliffs. The site now is mostly covered with grasses and bushes; examples of the bones and strategies used are included in a well designed and interesting Interpretive Centre. It took me about four hours to watch and read everything in the centre and hike the two short trails next to it.