As engineers are designing a highway, archaeologists are studying the area to discover where people lived or worked in the past. These locations are called archaeological sites. A prehistoric site can be a place where people lived as long as 10,000 years ago. A historic site can be a place where German settlers built their homes over 100 years ago. Steps To Discovery Property owners are notified before an archaeologist conducts a study on their land.
Archaeologists walk the project area and search for evidence of past history.
They may visually inspect the area or dig holes approximately one foot in diameter, to look for objects people left behind. The holes are filled in and archaeologists make every effort to leave the area as it was found. If an important discovery is made, WisDOT engineers try to avoid the site through project redesign. If this is not possible, archaeologists carefully excavate the site before construction. For some projects, public hearings are held to provide information about the project and the environmental studies being conducted.