A historical depiction of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, an ancient sandstone overhang in Pennsylvania, surrounded by dense forest.

Prehistoric Pittsburgh: From Meadowcroft to Monongahela

Before Pittsburgh’s towering steel mills and bustling riverfronts, the land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River was home to humans for thousands of years. The first known evidence of human habitation in the region comes from Meadowcroft Rockshelter, located about 30 miles southwest of modern Pittsburgh. This remarkable archaeological site has provided some of the oldest evidence of human activity in North America, dating back to around 16,000 BCE.