One hears that Damascus or Jericho may be the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. But what is the longest continuously inhabited place in what is now the United States? One of the top contenders for that title is the Meadowcroft Rockshelter near Avella in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

It is one of the earliest archeological sites that one can visit to learn about the much deeper history of the United States. Another archeological site to visit is the Calico Early Man Site in California. Another superb site to visit is Poverty Point - it is one of the oldest large historical sites in the United States and is a prehistoric earthwork in present-day northeastern Louisiana.

The Background and History of Meadowcroft Rockshelter

The Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archeological site and a rock shelter located on a bluff overlooking Cross Creek. There is some evidence that the area may have been continuously inhabited for 16,000 to19,000 years - that's around the current estimate for how long people have been in the Americas (although that date for human arrival is constantly being revised).

The older dating comes from a cut piece of bark that may have been used as a basket. If this is correct (and the jury is still somewhat out), it would be one of the earliest known sites in the Americas.

  • Located: In Washington County 27 Miles West-Southwest of Pittsburgh
  • Listed: As a National Historic Landmark
  • Settled: From Around 16,000 to 19,000 Years Ago

It is thought people began camping there episodically around 16,000 or so years ago and continued to visit the shelter until the 13th century. Mercyhurst University archeologist Jim Adovasio even termed it “a late-Pleistocene Holiday Inn.” He went on to explain that it never flooded, was high and dry, was reasonably large, and was well ventilated - what more could a caveman want? To boot, the Cross Creek just a few feet away provided easy access to fresh water.

  • Akin To: A Late-Pleistocene Holiday Inn
  • Inhabited: People Camped There Episodically For Thousands of Years

The inhabitants foraged for various types of plants, big game (like deer and elk), and small game like fish, birds, and mollusks from the water below their shelter.

In more recent times, it was used by the Native Americans into the 18th century, later by European settlers, and finally by local teenagers for good measure in the 1970s.

Related: The History Of The Cahokia Mounds And Why You Should Visit This Great Native American City

The Rich Archeological Finds At The Site

Around 13,000 to 14,000 the roof of the cave collapsed. While that may have been unfortunate for the inhabitants of the "late-Pleistocene Holiday Inn" it was a boon for modern archeologists. The fall trapped a wealth of material that has been uncovered in modern excavations. Finds have included around 700 pieces of stone (some of them are tools) from the deepest units at the site.

Around 50 of the fragments have been large enough to be recognized as tools of some sort - or they have even been complete tools.

  • Tools: Includes Projectile Points, Pottery Fragments, and Wooden Instruments

The charcoal has enabled the archeologists to take datings from the site - these have yielded ages between 14,000 and 16,000 years ago.

  • Foragers: The Inhabitants of The Cave Are Believed to have Been Broad-Spectrum Foragers

At the time when it was first excavated and dated, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter was quite controversial as the oldest known sites in the Americas were the Clovis culture (around 11,000 years ago). The Clovis culture had been credited for having the oldest archeological remains of human settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

Over the years, many artifacts have been found at the Meadowcroft site. These include:

  • Artifacts: 20,000 Artifacts
  • Animal Remains: 956,000 Animal Remains (Including Elk, Deer, Bird Eggs, Mussels, and more)
  • Plant Remains: 1.4 Million Plant Remains
  • Elk: A Species Of Elk No Longer Present In Southwestern Pennsylvania (But Found Further North)

Related: 15 Photos of Strange Archaeological Finds From Around Globe (That Offer No Explanation)

Visit Meadowcroft Rockshelter

Today the Meadowcroft Rockshelter is open to the public. In 2008 an observation deck and attachment were built in the actual rock shelter so that visitors could come and not disturb the site.

Admission Fees:

  • Adult Admission: $15
  • Child Admission: $7
  • Senior Admission: $14

Before visiting one should check with their website to see if they are open and if there is anything that one should be aware of.

  • Phone: 724-587-3412

Even if the archeological site is closed, there is more to see. One can visit the Meadowcroft Historical Village, the Prehistoric Indian Village, and the Frontier Trading Post at the site. With so much history, there is more than one attraction here!

Next: Cliff Palace: The Largest Cliff Dwelling In North America Of The Ancestral Puebloans