Meadowcroft Rockshelter | |
 Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
   | |
| Location | Jefferson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Avella, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°17′11″N 80°29′30″W / 40.28639°N 80.49167°W |
| 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] |
The Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archaeological site which is located near Avella in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania.[4] The site is a rock shelter in a bluff overlooking Cross Creek (a tributary of the Ohio River), and contains evidence that the area may have been continually inhabited for more than 19,000 years. 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 of Pittsburgh[5] in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
The site operates as a division of the Heinz History Center of Pittsburgh and has a museum and a reconstruction of a circa 1570s Monongahela culture Indian village. Meadowcroft Rockshelter is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Treasure, and as an official project of Save America's Treasures.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "Meadowcroft Rockshelter - PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ^ "Meadowcroft Rockshelter". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ "Driving Directions | Visit". Meadowcroft. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
- ^ "City Distance Calculator". www.geobytes.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.