ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Volunteers working at the Allegheny Valley Project uncovered an 800-year-old ceramic smoking pipe fragment during an archaeological dig.
The volunteers are looking into the history of the Allegheny River Valley through the Canticle Farm.
The village of Allegany was built around 1200 AD by ancestors of the Seneca Nation and Iroquoian groups, according to officials overseeing the dig.
A volunteer discovered the ceramic pipe estimated to be about 800 years old, during a dig this week. Organizers of the project say other archeological artifacts have been uncovered over the years at this dig site.
Volunteers working on this site come from Germany, Taiwan, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, and The Netherlands. Visitors are welcome to observe.
“Visitors and volunteers are welcome whenever they can see people working at the site, behind the Canticle Farm Market,” said Steven Paul Howard, director of AVP field work and field director at the Gault School of Archeological Research at Texas State University. “We are generally there from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but are sometimes there earlier or later."
The Allegheny Valley Project is a nonprofit program that brings people together for research and education. They work to protect and preserve the history of the Allegheny River Valley.
If you're interested in checking out the dig site, you can sign up for a self-guided tour starting at Canticle Farm Market, 3809 Old State Road, Allegany. For more information, visit www.alleghenyvalleyproject.com.
