Archaeologists to Share Owego Elementary Secrets

The new Owego Elementary School opened in January 2016. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

Archaeologists who examined the site where the new Owego Elementary School was built will share their findings with in a pair of presentations at the school.

The programs will be held at the school on Thursday afternoon.

After the old school building was badly damaged by the massive flooding in September 2011, the Owego Apalachin School District developed a plan to construct a new school on the site of the original building.

Before construction started, the Public Archaeology Facility at Binghamton University investigated the site.

Nina Versaggi, director of the Public Archaeology Facility at Binghamton University, during a radio interview. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

Dr. Nina Versaggi, the director of the university program and the organization's lead archaeologist, will offer an overview. Project director Andrea Zlotucha Kozub will discuss the archaeological investigations of Native Americans who were in the region thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

Wendy Gonyea, an Onondaga Nation clan mother, will discuss Native Americans today.

The first program will be presented to Owego Elementary School students. The second program for area residents will start at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Owego Apalachin school superintendent Corey Green said the aftermath of the flooding five years ago "allowed us a small window to the ancient past."

Versaggi said more than 500 artifacts were found by archaeologists in the area of the old school.

The old flood-damaged Owego Elementary School in June 2013. [Bob Joseph/WNBF News][/caption]

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