Archaeologists probe oldest, deepest part of Meadowcroft Rockshelter [View all]

Archaeologists are looking for new clues at one of the oldest known sites of human habitation in North America. The rockshelter is known to be one of the oldest sites of human habitation in North America. Adovasio first excavated the site in 1973. Devlin Gandy, an archaeologist from St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge, and James M. Adovasio, the director of archaeology at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, are conducting research at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Avella, about an hour west of Pittsburgh in Washington County.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter, a National Historic Landmark, was first discovered as one of the first sites of human habitation in North America when a Washington County farmer found a prehistoric tool in what seemed to be a groundhog hole in 1955. The rockshelter was a campsite for early hunters and gathers nearly 19,000 years ago.

According to Gandy, there are many theories for how people came to populate the Americas and occupy Meadowcroft. The early dates at Meadowcroft indicate they didn’t come (to this site) through the interior of the continent, which would have been under miles of ice.

Through the studies, a line of over 16,000 years of environmental records was found that included climatic changes, plant and animal changes. The records then provided information on how humans adjusted through these times. “It appears as it did in the early ’70s, that people were at this spot long before they were supposed to be in the New World,” Adovasio said.

https://triblive.com/local/regional/archaeologists-probe-oldest-deepest-part-of-meadowcroft-rockshelter/