NEWPORT – State archaeologist Arthur Spiess confirmed Wednesday that ancient American Indian artifacts have been found on a small island in the center of the Sebasticook River in downtown Newport.

Testing has revealed the site to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old.

The area now will become protected and part of the town’s River Walk project, along with the remains of an 1800s sawmill. It also qualifies for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Spiess said that in an excavated area of only a couple of square yards, he found an Indian fire pit, pottery shards and stone tool fragments, including arrowheads and spearheads.

“We took the charcoal from the pit back to the state laboratory and washed it and found a large number of animal bones, including beaver and fish. There were tons of alewives bones,” said Spiess.

“This site is of considerable research significance,” he said Wednesday.

“We are hoping it will stay right there, intact for future archaeologists,” he said.

Spiess said the current channel of the river was dug by a coal-fired steam shovel decades ago. “It is amazing that this little site survived,” he said. “Luckily, it got missed.”

This is the second archaeological site of historical significance discovered in Newport.

In 1992, a 5,000-year-old fish weir was discovered on the northern edge of Sebasticook Lake. It is considered an extremely rare site, the oldest and best-preserved site of its type in North America.

The Maine Historic Preservation’s New Century Program allocated $14,000 in late 1999 to study methods to preserve the fish weir. Spiess said Wednesday that an engineering firm is drawing up plans for a 2-foot-tall dam that will protect the ancient site, and permits will be under consideration at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Spiess said he couldn’t predict when the dam would be built.

Meanwhile, protecting the downtown historic site will become part of the town’s innovative River Walk project and will likely enhance the attraction.

The first step of the River Walk will be the breaching of the Main Street dam, which sits several hundred feet downstream from the artifacts. The dam was put in place a century ago to pool the outflow of Sebasticook Lake and provide for fire protection for the downtown area.

By breaching the dam, the outflow will be reduced to a small channel and the resulting new landmass will be developed as a place for community members and tourists to gather. Ideas that have been discussed include the River Walk, a park, creation of an old-fashioned “fishing hole,” and permanent benches and tables.

Town Manager James Ricker announced Tuesday night that the Maine Department of Marine Resources had agreed to pick up the balance of the costs of removal of the dam.

The town had appropriated $46,000 for the project, but when the lowest bid came in last month at $88,000, the town was short $42,000. But that was before Ricker began negotiations with the DMR.

Ricker said Wednesday that Construction Divers Inc. will begin breaching the dam July 1 and expects to complete the job by July 31.

He explained that the dam will be breached to open an area about 60 feet wide and riprap will be placed on both ends to secure the site.

Ricker said that part of the contract with Construction Divers requires that the company haul away and dispose of all debris created by the breaching.

The manager informed selectmen Tuesday night about the historical area.

Ricker provided an aerial photograph of the river channel on which a large area was circled in yellow. “The state archaeologist does not want that area disturbed,” said Ricker. “We can put 12 inches of loam down and mow it,” Ricker said, “but it cannot be dug out and rechanneled.”

The selectmen also agreed to hire Eastern Maine Development Corp. to assist with the river realignment and park project. EMDC will be paid $2,000 from a fund created by two grants Newport received totaling $56,000.