MIDDLESEX TWP — When a major highway is developed, the land it runs across could be filled with history. Before ground is broken, archaeologists dig the area for artifacts.

It's a process that could lead to historical site preservation. It applies even to the government.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has contracted Heberling Associates, Inc. to dig the land where the Route 228 expansion will take place in the township.

Kristina Gaugler, of Heberling Associates, has been the on-site field director for two months. She and her crew of seven have been digging on both sides of Route 228, from west of Davis Road to Old Route 8.

“We ... come in and check out the area,” Gaugler said. “There were Native Americans living all around this area.”

Gaugler says the work she and her crew are doing is “cultural resource management.”

The group is responsible for analyzing land that will be altered by development for historical relevance. Proof of historical relevance takes the form of cultural artifacts.

In this part of Pennsylvania, artifacts could be Native American (such as arrowheads) or Colonial-European (pottery, for example).

“Really just anything that could be important historically,” Gaugler said, “we're accessing the significance of it.”

The most-common artifacts the archaeologists have found so far are arrowheads — or “points” as they are called by archaeologists.

“We've found a few points throughout the project,” Gaugler said. “We haven't found much.”

The items the crew has found are in the process of dating.

Most of the finds have been discovered on private property, so landowners retain the rights to artifact ownership.

They can choose to keep what's found. Or they can donate artifacts to the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

The second choice is more common, according to Gaugler.

Sites such as the one along Route 228 are protected at the discretion of the Pennsylvania State Historical Preservation Office.

The office uses a calculation of the number of artifacts uncovered per square meter to determine if an area has significant historical value.

“If it were really significant ... that could potentially alter the course of construction,” Gaugler said.

A decision regarding how to proceed with a project is made after archaeologists present their findings.

Digs usually begin with a soil scientist, according to Gaugler. This individual augers the ground and provides archaeologists with geological insight.

Archaeologists then dig a few holes down to the bedrock, or between 50 centimeters and 2 meters. This provides them with a base to look at the area they're digging.

On the Route 228 project, the archaeologists have been digging 2-meter-by-2-meter “test units” to look for concentrations of artifacts. A concentration could mean an area is an important historical site, such as a former settlement or burial ground.

When the crew has finished a plot, they record their findings and fill it back in.

“We try to leave everything as we find it,” Gaugler said.

The crew has been working four 10-hour days on-site every week since April. They've worked in heat, sun and rain. They will continue to do so for another three or four weeks.

“The goal is ... to be sure that we're just being aware of the cultural resources surrounding us,” Gaugler said.

It's one of the ways, she said, to be sure future generations remember their past.