Meadowcroft Rockshelter (36WH297) currently manifests the longest, if explicitly episodic, occupational sequence in the Americas. Interestingly, despite the long persistence of an essentially stable seasonal visitation pattern which is centered upon latest summer through mid- to late-fall site use, the intensity of rockshelter utilization (measured in length of visitation interval and/or persons per visit) is highly variable. Prior to and after Late Archaic/Transitional and Early Woodland times (ca. 4000–100 B.C. uncalibrated), the pattern of site visitation by any index is rather light. During the Late Archaic/Transitional and Early Woodland intervals, site utilization is much heavier based on all available lines of evidence. The spatial and temporal patterns of site use at Meadowcroft during the Holocene are detailed and related to broader patterns of Cross Creek Drainage-wide prehistoric visitation. Several potential explanations are offered for the heavier pattern of site use documented for the Late Archaic/Transitional and Early Woodland periods.
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