2014 Meadowcroft Rockshelter Trip
On October 10-12, 2014, members of FOSA participated in a trip to the
Meadowcroft Rockshelter a site where
archeologists have found evidence of human life that dates back nearly 16,000 years. The Meadowcroft property
had been used as a farm since 1795 and was owned by the family of Albert Miller. On November 12, 1955, Albert
Miller discovered there might be more to his property than he had ever imagined. On that day, Miller discovered
a groundhog hole that contained flint flakes and burnt bone. He dug a little deeper to discover a flint knife.
Mr. Miller kept his discoveries secret, to prevent looting, and hoping to come in contact with a scientist who
could properly examine the site. In June, 1973, Dr. James Adovasio of Mercyhurst College and his team of
University of Pittsburgh students began excavating and studying the site. "We did not realize the depth of the
deposits or its antiquity," says Adovasio. "It was almost serendipitous. It was literally nothing anyone had
anticipated."
At the FOSA Annual Meeting in 2009, Dr.
Adovasio spoke about the excavations as the featured speaker. As a result of this, following her tenure as FOSA
President in 2013, Cynthia Redman proposed a trip to Meadowcroft, to expand on what Dr. Adovasio spoke about.
From that visit, the following photographs were taken and submitted for inclusion in this section of the FOSA
web site. Unless otherwise specified, all photographs were taken by Jack D. Morris.
The photographs are being presented in several groups, corresponding to different aspects of the trip:
Click anywhere in the group to bring it up so you can either bring them up and walk through the photos individually, or view them automatically via a slide-show.
1. GROUP and LANDSCAPE | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
2. IMMEDIATE AREA | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
3. EXCAVATION - CENTER STAGE | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||
4. EXCAVATION - UPPER LANDING | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||||
5. MILLER MUSEUM | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||
6. 1570s MONONGAHELA INDIAN VILLAGE | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||
7. 1770s TRADING POST | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||
8. 1890s RURAL VILLAGE | ||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||