Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie about 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest of Fort Macleod, Alberta. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is known around the world a testimony of prehistoric life and the customs of aboriginal people. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump bears witness to a custom practiced by native people of the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years. In 1981, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization designated the jump as a World Heritage Site placing it among other world attractions such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Galapagos Islands.