A team of archaeologists have been called in after a passerby made an unexpected discovery on a Kelowna beach.

The discovery was made by a member of the public, just south of where construction was taking place at the Royal Avenue Beach Access Park, near Kelowna General Hospital.

Teams are now investigating what the object could be.

According to the City of Kelowna, the artifact looked to be an old, modified stone.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a modified piece of rock, pre-contact, thatsa国际传媒檚 what they think,sa国际传媒� said Andrew Gibbs, Senior Project Manager with the City of Kelowna.

Gibbs explained that pre-contact defines an object as being older than 1846, which would make it at least 173 years old today.

As a result, the construction project that was underway, erosion control and a path between Royal Avenue and Strathcona Park, has been halted.

The discovery of the artifact was made back in the spring, and since then the City has been working to have an archaeological assessment approved.

sa国际传媒淲hen they discovered the artifact, we put the project on hold, then we had to apply for a permit to do an archaeological investigation, which yousa国际传媒檝e seen on-site, thatsa国际传媒檚 underway now,sa国际传媒� Gibbs.

sa国际传媒淭he archaeologists will do their investigation on-site, then theysa国际传媒檒l do a report, and theysa国际传媒檒l submit that to the archaeology branch. That report will give us a better idea of what the history might have been.sa国际传媒�

Archaeologists arrived on-site at the beginning of this week (Nov. 16). On-site with them is a monitor from the Westbank First Nation.

Gibbs isnsa国际传媒檛 sure the history of that specific area or the last time an artifact was found within city boundaries.

The city hopes to be back up and working on the project by next spring.

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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com

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