Caesars Indiana has decided to foot the disputed bill for the final phase of an archeological project at its gambling complex along the Ohio River.
Caesars had balked at the effort’s ballooning price tag–now more than $15 million–and at one point accused the archaeological team of padding the cost.
The casino owner says it will pay the final $2.4 million for the work in Harrison County.
Caesars spokeswoman Judy Hess said the company had decided that it was the right thing to do.
“That’s the way it should be,” she said.
The dig–required under state and federal law –was completed late last year and has uncovered what archeologists say is one of the most significant sites in the eastern United States.
The final part of the project, which experts say is perhaps the most important, is only now beginning.
That work involves cataloging and reporting on the tens of thousands of artifacts that have been unearthed by an Indiana State University team since work began at the site in 1997.
Officials say the dig yielded more than 30,000 artifacts: stone tools, broken ceramic pieces, sharpened points for hunting, scrapers and hide punches. Radiocarbon dating on some materials confirmed that the first inhabitants of the area arrived about 10,000 years ago.
Caesars opened its Glory of Rome casino for gambling in November 1998.
