Sites of prehistoric interest relate to the precontact history of Native use and settlement. These valuable archaeological resources represent 10,000+ years of occupation by Native inhabitants of the Calgary region. In all, 45 archaeological sites on Nose Hill have been recorded. Stone feature sites include cairns (a human-made pile of stones as a landmark, marker, or memorial), alignments (arrangements in a straight line or correct relative positions), and stone circles. Archaeological studies of Nose Hill began in the early 1970s. Students from the University of Calgary carried out surveys of the entire Calgary region; five prehistoric sites were recorded in what is now the park. These include three tipi ring sites, a lithic (stone) scatter, and a prehistoric campsite.
When the City planned a municipal park for Nose Hill, a Historical Resources Inventory was required in 1978 within the proposed boundaries. The results were a cairn, ten campsites (two with tipi rings), a glacial erratic, four isolated finds, a kill site, 18 lithic scatters, a rock mound site of overgrown gravel, and six tipi ring sites. The Alberta Government in Edmonton held microfiche copies of permit and research reports, in which existing resources were described. In 1982 and 1983, a spring survey of stone circles along the southern margin of the uplands of Nose Hill recorded 60 new rings. This was followed by a series of field trips in the summer and fall of 1993. Conditions were poor, with high grass. The focus was on undisturbed sites but limited to revisiting all the original sites. Aerial photo mosaics of Nose Hill were prepared. Overlays combining trails and archaeological resources were used to relocate sites in the field. Best estimates of site locations were recorded using a GPS receiver.
