Cup-markings on the glaciated dolerite surfaces on the west slopes of the Hill were pointed out by R Fulton in 1991. There are eleven cup-marks on dolerite surface; nine in the shape of a pentagon with two in the centre.
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Mr Fulton later found some artefacts nearby. A collection, made before 1894, from a kitchen midden on Corstorphine Hill, included shells, bone implements, hammer stones, cup-marked stones, part of a quern and pottery fragments.
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Graham and Anna Ritchie commented on the 'well-formed cup-markings on a glacial pavement of dolerite, rediscovered in 1991. Their location offers wide views to the west. They were probably part of a sacred landscape of Neolithic or Bronze Age (c3600-1500 BC), but their precise purpose remains tantalisingly unknown. At the end of the 19th century, quarrying uncovered remains of settlement debris: shells, bones, stone-tools and pottery.'
In 2013 the Edinburgh Archeological Field Society started some investigations on the Hill: they made comprehensive records of the cup marks on the Hill in order to include them in a British research database on prehistoric rock art. They dug test pits at the north end of the Hill, looking for signs of prehistoric occupation as was found in the 19th century. Nothing has been found so far but they will continue next year. They have done a geophysical survey near the communication masts by the Tower, to investigate interesting landscape features such as banking and some tumbled stones. Again there were no conclusive results but they intend to continue next year (summary of a report by John Urquhart of EAFS0).