Archaeologists from AECOM in Trenton, NJ have been carefully excavating a parcel of land in Lower Makefield, Pa. The area along the Delaware River appears to be rich in Native American artifacts dating back a thousand years or more.
"The earliest Native Americans in this area could be up to 12,000 years ago," said senior archaeologist Alan Tabachnick.
Above the dig is the I-95 Scudder Falls Bridge. The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is planning a new $322 million twin span replacing the current 50-year-old structure. But by law the area must be excavated before construction starts. The New Jersey side unearthed 14,000 artifacts. The Pennsylvania side may uncover even more.
"Some of that stuff has been sitting in the ground for thousands of years. So to be the first person to touch that in that long of a period is exciting," said senior archaeologist Frank Mikolic.
Each red flag placed on the site marks an artifact. They may be the remnants of stone tools, arrows or spearheads, and pieces of pottery buried under centuries of earth.
They may tell the story of the Native Americans who once lived here probably on a seasonal basis, fishing and hunting.
Archaeologist Shawn Carney is helping to clean and catalogue what may look like ordinary rocks to most of us, but really aren't.
"This an incised piece of pottery," she said, pointing to an artifact decorated with shapes. "It would take a stick or sharp edge of a stone to make this design."
The archeologists will be at work for another three months. Then the catalogued artifacts will go to the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. The 14,000 items found in New Jersey will go to the State Museum of New Jersey in Trenton.
