Robert J. Pavuchak, Post-Gazette State Rep. Victor Lescovitz, D-Midway, left, and James Adovasio, right, who led the archaeological dig in 1973, discuss the model of the $2 million structure that will cover Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Washington County. It was unveiled at a news conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe.

By David Templeton
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The story of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in western Washington County has long been compelling, but the archaeological dig that reveals evidence of North America's earliest inhabitants soon will be able to tell its story with dramatic flair.

After years of lobbying efforts, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life near Avella in Jefferson has landed a $2 million state grant to help build a shelter to protect the dig site and display it to the public.

Rendering of the new structure for Meadowcroft Rockshelter Click photo for larger image.

The shelter's beamed roof will be anchored to the cliff face and cover the dig. About 100 steps will rise to a platform where visitors can look into the rock shelter. Sophisticated lighting will point out important details so visitors can understand its importance as arguably the oldest site of human habitation yet to be discovered in North America.

The design of the structure, scheduled to be completed in the spring, is based on those built to protect prehistoric rock shelters in the Perigord area of France, said James Adovasio, the Mercyhurst College archaeologist who led the Meadowcroft dig beginning in 1973.

"When it's finished it will be one of a kind," he said. "It will drastically enhance the capability of telling this story."

The story is riveting.

The rock shelter suggests that Paleo Indians from Asia came by land and sea in pulses of migration to North and South America, eventually winding up 16,000 years ago at the rock shelter that overlooks Cross Creek, an Ohio River tributary.

When the dig produced evidence of such early human habitation, it prompted vitriolic debate among scholars. It suggested that Paleo Indians of Mongoloid stock lived there 5,000 to 6,000 years before Clovis, N.M. -- the site previously thought to be the continent's oldest inhabited site.

It was thought to be archaeological heresy but it made sense. The rock shelter was the ideal version of a prehistoric Motel 6, with a rock overhang that protected the site, which faced south and caught sunlight.

Dr. Adovasio, who serves as dean of the Zurn School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Mercyhurst, said the structure will make the dig's importance understandable to the average person: "Archaeologists have an obligation to tell the story, and we can tell it here better than any place in this hemisphere."

Announcement of the state grant was made yesterday during a news conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe in Cecil.

In 1955, Albert Miller, founder of the Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life, discovered evidence of prehistoric remains in a groundhog hole in the rock shelter. But only after considerable effort to persuade archaeologists to view the site did Dr. Adovasio, then affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, show up to take a look. Soon after in June 1973, he began the dig.

Dr. Adovasio said he realized its potential, but never anticipated it would force archaeologists to rethink how and when North America was populated. The rock shelter has been the subject of numerous academic and magazine articles, including ones this year in Time and National Geographic.

One-third of the site has yet to be excavated, but Dr. Adovasio said he expects that to happen in due time.

Years of work at Meadowcroft produced 20,000 human artifacts, 956,000 animal bones and 1.4 million plant remains, providing a huge body of information on early civilization.

The dig is important not only because it reveals human habitation 16,000 years ago, but it also provides a continuous record of habitation throughout the ages: "It's the most carefully excavated rock shelter on the planet," Dr. Adovasio said.

Robert S. Pfaffmann, of the Pittsburgh architectural firm Pfaffmann & Associates, said his firm has been working on plans to build the structure for 10 years. The project must be done with painstaking care to avoid damaging the dig.

Once in place, the structure will allow natural light but not weather to enter the enclosure. It also will re-create the environment of the rock shelter, Mr. Pfaffmann said.

Construction plans will include preserving the archaeology office in the rock shelter, including the original Apple II computer.

The $4 million cost also includes money to expand the museum's visitor center and infrastructure improvements. The additional money was raised in part from private contributions.

David Scofield, Meadowcroft director, said the rock shelter already is a National Historic Landmark, but an effort is under way to have it named as a World Heritage Site. There are only 20 such sites in the United States, with Independence Hall in Philadelphia being the only one in Pennsylvania.

"We want to underscore the global significance of this site," Mr. Scofield said. "We hope to do things with the interpretation and really tell this story well."