Meadowcroft Rockshelter | |
 Meadowcroft Rockshelter inJefferson Township,Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
   | |
| Location | Jefferson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Avella, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°17′11″N80°29′30″W / 40.28639°N 80.49167°W /40.28639; -80.49167 |
| Area | 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 78002480[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 21, 1978 |
| Designated NHL | April 5, 2005[3] |
| Designated PHMC | September 19, 1999[2] |
TheMeadowcroft Rockshelter is anarchaeological site which is located nearAvella inJefferson Township, Pennsylvania.[4] The site is arock shelter in a bluff overlooking Cross Creek (a tributary of theOhio River), and contains evidence that the area may have been continually inhabited for at least 16,000 years and up to 19,000 years.[5] If accurately dated, it would be one of the earliest known sites with evidence of a human presence and continuous human occupation in the New World.[2]
The site is located twenty-seven miles west-southwest ofPittsburgh[6] in thePittsburgh metropolitan area.
The site operates as a division of theHeinz History Center of Pittsburgh and has a museum and a reconstruction of a circa 1570sMonongahela culture Indian village. Meadowcroft Rockshelter is recognized as aNational Historic Landmark, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Treasure, and as an official project ofSave America's Treasures.
The rockshelter is a natural formation beneath an overhanging cliff of Morgantown-Connellsvillesandstone, which is a thickPennsylvanian-age sandstone, brown in color. Meadowcroft is in theAllegheny Plateau, northwest of theAppalachian Basin.[7]
Native Americans left the site during theAmerican Revolutionary War. It was not rediscovered until many years later, when, in 1955, Albert Miller found the first artifacts in agroundhog burrow. Miller delayed reporting his findings so as to not attract vandals, until he contactedJames M. Adovasio, who led the first excavations of the site in 1973 until 1979 by the Cultural Resource Management Program of theUniversity of Pittsburgh. Further University of Pittsburgh field school excavations were conducted through 1989.[8][9] Since the 1990s, more recent work has also been undertaken by Adovasio through theMercyhurst Archaeological Institute.[10] The methods of excavation used at Meadowcroft are still seen as state-of-the-art. It is viewed as one of the most carefully excavated sites in North America.[11]
Meadowcroft has produced what may bepre-Clovis remains, found as deep as 11.5 feet underground. The site also has yielded many tools, includingpottery,bifaces, bifacial fragments,lamellar blades, alanceolate projectile point, and chipping debris. Recoveries of note also include fluted points, which are a marker of thePaleoindian period. Remains offlint from Ohio,jasper from eastern Pennsylvania and marine shells from the Atlantic coast suggest that the people inhabiting the area were mobile and involved in long-distance trade. At least one basin-shaped hearth was reused over time.
Meadowcroft has also yielded the largest collection of flora and fauna materials ever recovered from a location in eastern North America.[12] The arid environment provided the necessary and rare conditions that permitted excellent botanical preservation. In total, animal remains representing 149 species were excavated. Evidence shows that people gathered smaller game animals as well as plants, such ascorn,squash, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Radiocarbon dating of the site indicated occupancy beginning 16,000 years ago (14,000 BCE) and possibly as early as 19,000 years ago (17,000 BCE). However, the dates are still controversial. A recent (2013) survey carried out by the Society for American Archaeology reported support from 38% of archaeologists, with 20% rejecting the early dates.[13] Criticism of these early radiocarbon dates has focused on the potential for contamination by ancient carbon from coal-bearing strata in the watershed.[14] The samples, tested by an independent third party geomorphologist, concluded that the samples showed no evidence of groundwater activity. Tests performed via accelerator mass spectrometry also support the earlier dates.[15] Proponents of the notion that contamination occurred note that the alkali-soluble humates in charcoal samples from the site are older than the charcoal in the samples.[16] If authentic, these dates would indicate that Meadowcroft was used in the pre-Clovis era and, as such, provides evidence for very early human habitation of theAmericas.[17][18] Meadowcroft Rockshelter may be one of the oldest known sites of human habitation in North America, providing a unique glimpse into the lives of prehistoric hunters and gatherers.Paleoindian,Archaic, andWoodland remains have all been found at the site.
An unusual type of arrowhead was found at the site, which has been named theMiller Lanceolate projectile point. Similar unfluted lanceolate points have also been found at the adjacent sites. As Goodyear writes:
Enough lithic artifacts were recovered to define the Miller complex. This complex consists of thin bifaces, including one lanceolate point, the Miller Lanceolate; small prismatic blades; retouched flake tools and blades, anddebitage related to late-stage core and biface reduction and tool kit maintenance.[19]
The Miller complex is further defined by surveys done in the Cross Creek watershed, where other lanceolate points, small prismatic blades, and small polyhedral blade cores have been recovered. According to Adovasio et al.,[20] this complex has a Eurasiatic and Siberian appearance. These authors also note that small blades and polyhedral cores are absent from subsequent Paleoindian fluted-point assemblages in this region, reinforcing the technological distinctiveness of the Miller complex.[19]
The adjacentKrajacic Site is located about ten miles southeast of Meadowcroft, and it is also important in defining the Miller complex. This site yielded a great variety of distinctive Meadowcroft-style blade implements and several small, cylindrical polyhedral cores.[21][22]
AtCactus Hill inVirginia, similar points have been found, where they are dubbed as the Early Triangular type. Some similar finds were made at thePage-Ladson site in Florida as well.[23][24]
Because of the very long occupational sequence at Meadowcroft, it became a very important site and is seen as quite valuable for comparative analysis:
The Pre-Clovis artifacts from Meadowcroft Rockshelter include a lanceolate point (named the Miller Lanceolate), bifaces, unifaces, prismatic blades, core fragments, and debitage. Remains from other Pre-Clovis sites (e.g.,Cactus Hill andSaltville, Virginia,Topper, South Carolina, etc.) are usually compared to the Meadowcroft assemblage.[25] In addition, claims for Pre-Clovis inhabitants in other sections of the New World also are evaluated with Meadowcroft in mind.[26][23]
According to some scholars, Clovis, Folsom, and other fluted point complexes may have derived from such unfluted lanceolate points.[23]
Other sites in the northeastern United States with evidence of possible pre-Clovis human presence include:Burning Tree Mastodon (Ohio), Mitchell Farm (Delaware), Barton (Barton Village Site, Maryland), Miles Point, and Parsons Island.[27]
Renovations to the rock shelter in 2008 were made so that visitors can see some of the tools and campfires made by the first Americans thousands of years ago. The rockshelter is recognized as a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Treasure and is an official project ofSave America's Treasures. The historic site also includes a recreation of a 16th-centuryMonongahela village as well as 18th and 19th century buildings from European and United States settlement.[28]
The site was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 1999, thePennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed ahistorical marker noting the historic importance of the site.[2] It was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 2005.[3] It is also designated as a historic public landmark by theWashington County History & Landmarks Foundation.[29]
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