The construction season has yielded something special beyond headaches for drivers.

Artifacts, including leftover material from the making of native people's arrowheads, were unearthed as Dundurn Castle's parking lot and York Boulevard were being prepared for an overhaul a couple of months ago.

Consulting firm Historic Horizons Inc. will receive more than $350,000 to safely remove all the artifacts and fully catalogue the site in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act.

Historic Horizons had tested the area initially for archeological elements.

The discovery of artifacts at Dundurn Castle is nothing new.

Hundreds have been found in the area over the centuries.

Christopher Redford, heritage presentation co-ordinator for the city, is delighted more aboriginal artifacts have been found.

"It's our responsibility and our honour to take the time to do the excavation," Redford said.

"We have to be studious, dutiful and cautious in how we go about doing it."

Redford, a former archeologist at the Dundurn national historical site, says the arrowhead materials were probably left by native peoples travelling to the lake area in warmer weather.

"Native peoples would be coming down in the summer to do hunting and fishing and then go back to the escarpment where they had more permanent villages in the winter time. So they would be constantly making these (arrowheads)."

He said he wouldn't want to speculate on how old the artifacts are.

The dig is expected to start later this month and wrap up by the end of fall, said Ian Kerr-Wilson, chief of heritage resource management for the City of Hamilton's Tourism and Culture Division.

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"There certainly is enough material to show that area is a rich archeological one," Kerr-Wilson said.

"And it's important that we show the full respect for that area by treating it like it's culturally significant."

The dig calls for "Stage 4 mitigation archeological work," which means meticulous digging by hand and extensive documentation, adding to excavation time, said Mark Smith, issues management co-ordinator with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

"The archeologist (Historic Horizons) will employ a combination of excavation methods ranging from machinery to hand shovelling to detailed excavation with trowels," Smith said.

"Soil samples may be taken, again depending on what is found."

Historic Horizons was chosen because of its extensive knowledge of the archeological area over the past 20 years and will not need preparation time to begin the extensive excavation.

The firm will be consulting with First Nations representatives for help in monitoring the digging.