Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 6:00AM |  44°
MENU
Advertisement
Semi-retired archeologist Allen Quinn, of Westfield, N.Y., bags a small bone recovered during excavation on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. Mr. Quinn has worked with Meadowcroft Rockshelter for 38 years. He suspects the small bone is from a meal, since the dig site was once a campfire site.
15
MORE

Meadowcroft Rockshelter archaeological dig gives public a firsthand look at ancient history in action

Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette

Meadowcroft Rockshelter archaeological dig gives public a firsthand look at ancient history in action

For the first time in three years, digging has resumed in the woods at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, an ancient campsite near Avella where humans have taken refuge for at least 19,000 years.

Millennia ago, rains, river water and wind carved the site into the side of a sheer cliff jutting over Cross Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River, in what’s now Washington County.

Now, visitors to the cliff are getting a rare opportunity to view archaeology in action.

Advertisement

This summer’s publicly viewable dig is the latest installment in a nearly 50-year project to tell the whole story of what happened at Meadowcroft Rockshelter. One of the oldest known examples of a human presence in North America, the pit at Meadowcroft presents scholars with an unparalleled wealth of material to assist in narrating the deep history of the continent.

When the project began in 1973, James Adovasio, then a young archaeologist at the University of Pittsburgh, brought a rotating group of a dozen or so anthropology and archaeology students to excavate the site. After five years of 80-hour work weeks, they had turned up 20,000 artifacts, 956,000 animal remains and 1.4 million plant remains.

Fossils, bones, fire pits, flint knives, arrowheads, glass beads, stone tools, shards of pottery, charcoal, gunpowder, even beer cans — all of them were there.

QuinnSemi-retired archeologist Allen Quinn excavates a prehistoric campfire site on Thursday at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The tags indicate different layers of sediment or features in the excavation site.(Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)

Mr. Adovasio, 78, is now director of Archaeology at the Senator John Heinz History Center, which operates the rockshelter.

Advertisement

On Wednesday morning, he and Allen Quinn, a mostly retired archaeologist who still works on and off at Meadowcroft and studied with Mr. Adovasio at Pitt, returned to the site to excavate, bag and catalog sediment from an eroded sandstone wall. The roof of the site’s enclosure leaked in a storm last fall, and the rain caused some of the sediment to slosh around.

Staff at the site managed to patch the leak and temporarily buttress the wall with wooden supports soon after noticing the instability. But they knew that it would only be a matter of time before the whole thing had to be excavated and repaired. Should even a small segment of the rockshelter slip, crack or collapse, tens of thousands of years of information about human, animal and plant life could be lost in a matter of seconds.

“Context is so important in archaeology,” said David Scofield, director of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, “and once a chunk falls out, you lose all the context, all the stratigraphy [the study of layers of rock and artifacts encased in them] in the site, that places it at a specific time and any artifacts or cultural features in that.

“If you can’t associate that with a specific layer, you lose all the context.”

mapMaps of rocks and layers of sediment used by archeologist Allen Quinn are seen during excavation on Thursday at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. Such maps can be used to show damaged or fragile areas in an effort to prevent further breakage.(Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)

Samples taken over the course of the summer’s excavation will, as is typical in such work, be sifted for ancient artifacts and for prehistoric plant and animal remains. The Heinz Center will then send the materials to professor Eske Willerslev’s Centre for GeoGenetics in Denmark, based at the University of Copenhagen, to be scanned for evidence of human DNA.

“The people who came here were just like you and I,” Mr. Adovasio said. “They had the same physical and mental capacities. Albeit modified by time, they had the same kind of problems that we do. Figuring out how they adjusted to changes in the environment, how they adjusted their technologies to the environment, is part of the narrative that the story of the rockshelter tells.”

On Thursday morning, Mr. Adovasio was perched up high on a wooden landing at the rockshelter— a kind of archaeologist’s crow’s nest above the 20 foot pit — documenting the samples that had been collected so far that day. Ziploc bags of dirt and reams of graph paper penciled with rows of data were strewn across the table in front of him.

Scofield, Adovasio and MasichDavid Scofield, director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village; James Adovasio, director of archeology at the Heinz History Center; and Andy Masich, president and CEO at the history center, watch over the live excavation at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village on Thursday.(Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)

Mr. Quinn, who has worked at the site for the last 38 years, stood in the pit below, glacially troweling away at the problematic sandstone wall. He was intensely focused as he followed, centimeter by centimeter, a color-coded map of the layers of rock in front of him. Boulders hung overhead — huge slabs of rock that too hasty a movement of the trowel would bring crashing down. A good archaeologist knows not to fool around with 19,000 years of potential energy.

“If you think about human history as a book, a big thick book,” said Mr. Quinn, “and each of these layers [of rock] represent a page or a chapter of the book, at most archeological sites, you’ll get a page or you’ll get a chapter, two chapters maybe. Here you get the entire book.”

The site is about an hour’s drive, with moderate traffic, southwest of Pittsburgh on Interstate 79. Visitors will know they’re close when the number of tanker trucks on the road thins out and the tree coverage thickens. Forest rolls all around the rockshelter, interrupted only by the hard angles of the site’s midcentury modern enclosure.

The building was designed in 2007 by local architect Robert Pfaffmann in the style and palette of Frank Lloyd Wright. The structure is in place mainly to shield the excavation pit from weather — although, as last year’s rain would attest, it isn’t fool-proof. It also gives visitors a comfortable ledge on which to stand and watch the archaeologists at work.

rockshelterMeadowcroft Rockshelter is seen Thursday near Avella.(Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)

For a long time, Ryan Kaboly, 25, had been fascinated by the story of how humans first came to America. Recently, he heard about the rockshelter on a podcast and decided to stop there while driving to Montana from Bethlehem, Pa., to start work as a backpacking guide in Glacier National Park.

Mark and Anne Murphy, both 67, drove to the site from Lenoir City, Tenn., on the way to a family reunion in the area.

“During COVID, we watched a series on the Great Courses about ancient civilizations,” said Ms. Murphy, “and one of the instructors talked about this site.”

The Murphys had been hoping to swing by the rockshelter for some time, but last time they passed through the area, the site had closed for the winter. While on the road to Western Pennsylvania last week, they were finally able to make the visit.

rockshelterVisitors Anne and Mark Murphy, of Tennessee, watch Andrew Donovan, educational and program manager of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, during the live excavation Thursday at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.(Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)

Since Mr. Adovasio’s return, the rockshelter, according to Mr. Scofield, has been averaging anywhere from 30 to 150 visitors a day.

Admission is $15 for adults and $7 for kids, Wednesdays to Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through July 31.

The dig is also being livestreamed for free on the Heinz History Center’s YouTube channel.

Zachary Groz: zgroz@post-gazette.com.

First Published: June 13, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: June 13, 2022, 10:04 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (11)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, shown delivering his budget address in early February, said on Monday that a federal freeze of money intended for Pennsylvania is over.
1
news
Gov. Shapiro says federal freeze and blockages of $2.1 billion for Pa. are now over
Agents took Rachel Marie Powell, 40, of Sandy Lake, into custody in New Castle on Feb. 4, 2021.
2
news
Pardoned for Jan. 6, 'Pink Hat Lady' came home to a new reality in Western Pa.
Law enforcement respond to the scene of a shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
3
news
Gunman in UPMC mass shooting battled lifelong mental health issues, says ex-girlfriend
The Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, where state Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe on Monday answered budget questions from lawmakers.
4
news
Pa. acting education secretary 'exceptionally concerned' after report on cyber charter school funding
The Downtown Pittsburgh skyline, with the view from Station Square on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
5
news
DHS director says Allegheny County could face reduction in millions of dollars for Medicaid, other services
Semi-retired archeologist Allen Quinn, of Westfield, N.Y., bags a small bone recovered during excavation on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. Mr. Quinn has worked with Meadowcroft Rockshelter for 38 years. He suspects the small bone is from a meal, since the dig site was once a campfire site.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
A view of the “deep hole” at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter on Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Avella, P.A. This area reaches 20 feet below surface level  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Maps of rocks and layers of sediment used by archeologist Allen Quinn are seen during excavation on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. Such maps can be used to show damaged or fragile areas in an effort to prevent further breakage.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Tags at the excavation site indicate different layers of sediment or features in the excavation site at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Tags at the excavation site indicate different layers of sediment, or features, in the excavation site at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Avella, P.A., on Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette) #meadowcroftExcavation  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Tags at the excavation site indicate different layers of sediment, or features, in the excavation site at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Avella, P.A., on Thursday, June 9, 2022. (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette) #meadowcroftExcavation  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Dr. James Adovasio, director of archeology at the Heinz History Center, prepares for an excavation on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
David Scofield, director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village; James Adovasio, director of archeology at the Heinz History Center; and Andy Masich, president and CEO of Senator John Heinz History Center, watch over the live excavation at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village near Avella, on Thursday, June 9, 2022.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Semi-retired archeologist Allen Quinn excavates a prehistoric campfire site on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The tags indicate different layers of sediment or features in the excavation site.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Jim Ulery, interpreter and tour guide at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, waits for visitors on the rockshelter balcony on Thursday, June 9, 2022.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Morgan Meer and Jim Ulery, interpreters at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, look over Cross Creek on Thursday, June 9, 2022. The rockshelter, where archeologists are currently excavating, was formed millennia ago by Cross Creek.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
The new rockshelter, constructed in 2007, passes through a tree, also visible from the excavation site at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village near Avella.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
View of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter on Thursday, June 9, 2022.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Visitors Anne and Mark Murphy, of Tennessee, watch Andrew Donovan, educational and program manager of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, during the live excavation on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
An archeologist's brush, plumb bob and trowel at the excavation site on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.  (Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette)
Ariana Shchuka/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story