There's a treasure hunt going on just east of downtown Calgary.

Excavation began for the East Village Project in June, and so far crews have unearthed thousands of artifacts.

The project archaeologist has discovered two landfills dating back to 1910 and 1920.

Most of the items found are ceramics and glass, along with an old Model-T car.

There's not much left of the car, but a plate somehow survived not only a fire at the old Winnipeg hotel in 1899, but also being buried for almost a hundred years.

Chris Ollenberger, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, says finding the artifacts is costly, and shouldered by the developer.

"It's cost us several hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this work, and that's the responsibility of every developer in Alberta. Under the provincial regulations, if they find a site they have to preserve it, mitigate it, or document it."

Ollenberger is hoping to be able to display some of the artifacts found at the site in some of the completed buildings.