Archeologists are waiting for the snow to clear before digging for artifacts on property that Living History Farms is selling to a developer.

Tallgrass Historians L.C., a private historical research and environmental consulting firm based in Iowa City, has been hired by Living History Farms to recover items that likely belonged to relatives of Martin Flynn, the 19th-century railroad man, surveyor and farmer who settled the property that’s now the site of the interpretive farm museum.

The dig involves slightly less than one acre of an approximately 39-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Interstate 35/80 and Hickman Road in Urbandale. Living History Farms is in the process of selling the land to developer Robin Seiser, who plans a retail and commercial development called Heritage Park.

After previous surveys of the area by the Iowa Archeological Society, nearly 3,000 artifacts were recovered and are on display or in storage at the state Historical Museum.

The upcoming dig, planned for later this month or early April, will conclude efforts to recover items, said Leah Rogers of Tallgrass Historians.

An anthropology class from Coe College, students from the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University as well as other volunteers will participate in the dig, in which the top six inches of soil – the “plow zone” – will be removed and the entire site removed, cataloged and preserved, Rogers said.

A showerhead is among the more unusual items found to date, indicating that the inhabitants were at least experimenting with indoor plumbing, Rogers said. It is believed that one of Martin Flynn’s sons lived at the site.

The fact that a historic site was found on the property should not delay its sale, Rogers and MD Isley, interim executive director for Living History Farms, said.

“That’s why we’re trying to get it done as soon as possible,” Rogers said.

Isley said the land sale should be finalized in a few days. However, the excavation site will not be turned over to the developer until Rogers and the volunteers have completed their work.