CORALVILLE -- Researchers hope to learn more about ancient life here with  this summer's excavation of a campsite along the Iowa River belonging to  early ancestors of American Indians.

 The excavation is being prompted by plans for a $63.2 million hotel and convention center and the Iowa Environmental/Education Project, popularly  known as an indoor rain forest, to be built nearby. City officials feared grading for that project could disturb the ancient campsite just south of  Interstate 80.

 "We wanted to make sure we handled the site appropriately," said Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth.

 Excavation is not expected to affect construction of the various projects and commercial redevelopment in the area, Hayworth said.

 The campsite likely dates to about 1500 B.C., said John Doershuk,  director of the general contracts program in the Office of the State Archaeologist at the University of Iowa. The site was likely only a temporary stop because of its low-lying location along the riverbank, he said.

 "This has the potential to be a really great site, which could give us a great interpretation of the period," Doershuk said.

 Researchers have found a spear point, stone tools and chips of stone associated with early toolmaking. There was also fire-cracked rock, which would be consistent with a campsite, Doershuk said.

 The artifacts are about 4 feet beneath the surface, Doershuk said, in an area of what is now Edgewater Park. The area would remain open space when the hotel and convention center and Iowa Environmental/Education Project are built.

 Other potential digs are in the area, but officials have determined they don't warrant further investigation, Doershuk said. Materials found at the other small sites around the riverbanks include some chips from stone tools.

 Such sites are extremely rare, Doershuk said. There are only about six such sites in the state and about a dozen in the Midwest, he said.

 The city will work with Doershuk to excavate the site this summer and the artifacts will be cataloged and preserved, said Hayworth. The site was first identified during a land use study in 2000.