Meadowcroft Rockshelter

E219772

archaeological site rock shelter

Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archaeological site in Pennsylvania renowned for evidence of some of the earliest known human habitation in North America.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Meadowcroft Rockshelter canonical	13
Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village	7
Meadowcroft Rock Shelter	1
Meadowcroft Village	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1949943 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Meadowcroft Rockshelter
Context triple: [Paleo-Indian period, associatedWith, Meadowcroft Rockshelter]

A. Arlington Springs Man site
The Arlington Springs Man site is a significant Paleoindian archaeological locality on Santa Rosa Island in California, where some of the oldest known human remains in North America were discovered.
B. Moundville Archaeological Park
Moundville Archaeological Park is a major pre-Columbian Native American site featuring large earthen mounds and artifacts from the Mississippian culture, located along the Black Warrior River in Alabama.
C. Cahokia Mounds region
The Cahokia Mounds region is a major pre-Columbian archaeological area in the Mississippi River valley, known for its large earthen mounds and as the center of one of North America’s most complex ancient Indigenous urban societies.
D. Taliesin West
Taliesin West is architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former winter home and studio, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and architecture school campus renowned for its desert-integrated design.
E. Mound City
Mound City is a historical nickname for St. Louis, Missouri, referencing the region’s ancient Native American earthwork mounds.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Meadowcroft Rockshelter
Target entity description: Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archaeological site in Pennsylvania renowned for evidence of some of the earliest known human habitation in North America.

A. Arlington Springs Man site
The Arlington Springs Man site is a significant Paleoindian archaeological locality on Santa Rosa Island in California, where some of the oldest known human remains in North America were discovered.
B. Moundville Archaeological Park
Moundville Archaeological Park is a major pre-Columbian Native American site featuring large earthen mounds and artifacts from the Mississippian culture, located along the Black Warrior River in Alabama.
C. Cahokia Mounds region
The Cahokia Mounds region is a major pre-Columbian archaeological area in the Mississippi River valley, known for its large earthen mounds and as the center of one of North America’s most complex ancient Indigenous urban societies.
D. Taliesin West
Taliesin West is architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former winter home and studio, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and architecture school campus renowned for its desert-integrated design.
E. Mound City
Mound City is a historical nickname for St. Louis, Missouri, referencing the region’s ancient Native American earthwork mounds.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	archaeological site ⓘ rock shelter ⓘ
associatedWithDebate	peopling of the Americas ⓘ
continent	North America ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
designatedAs	National Historic Landmark ⓘ
discoveredBy	Albert Miller ⓘ
discoveryYear	1955 ⓘ
excavatedBy	James M. Adovasio ⓘ University of Pittsburgh ⓘ
firstExcavationYear	1973 ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Meadowcroft Rock Shelter ⓘ linked to: Meadowcroft Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village ⓘ linked to: Meadowcroft Rockshelter
hasControversialAspect	interpretation of earliest radiocarbon dates ⓘ
hasEvidenceOfHumanHabitation	Archaic period ⓘ Late Pleistocene ⓘ Woodland period ⓘ as early as about 16,000 years ago ⓘ
hasFeature	deep archaeological stratigraphy ⓘ overhanging sandstone cliff ⓘ stratified cultural deposits ⓘ
hasFind	botanical remains ⓘ charcoal samples ⓘ faunal remains ⓘ hearths ⓘ post molds ⓘ projectile points ⓘ stone tools ⓘ
hasOnsiteMuseum	true ⓘ
hasRadiocarbonDates	pre-Clovis age ⓘ
knownFor	early human habitation in North America ⓘ long cultural sequence of human occupation ⓘ pre-Clovis archaeological evidence ⓘ
listedOn	National Register of Historic Places ⓘ
locatedIn	Avella, Pennsylvania ⓘ Cross Creek Township, Pennsylvania ⓘ Ohio River Valley ⓘ linked to: Ohio Valley region Pennsylvania ⓘ Washington County, Pennsylvania ⓘ
managedBy	Senator John Heinz History Center ⓘ
nationalHistoricLandmarkDesignationYear	2005 ⓘ
nationalRegisterListingYear	1978 ⓘ
openToPublic	true ⓘ
partOf	Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village ⓘ linked to: Meadowcroft Rockshelter Meadowcroft Village open-air museum ⓘ
researchFocus	early human migration into the Americas ⓘ
usedAs	long-term habitation site ⓘ seasonal campsite ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (22)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Paleo-Indian period → associatedWith → Meadowcroft Rockshelter ⓘ

Avella, Pennsylvania → near → Meadowcroft Rockshelter ⓘ

Avella, Pennsylvania → hasHistoricSite → Meadowcroft Rockshelter ⓘ

Avella, Pennsylvania → hasHistoricSite → Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village ⓘ