| Meadowcroft Rockshelter in southwestern Pennsylvania represents one of the few well-documented archeological sites in the northeastern United States from which several types of fossil botanical material have been recovered. Botanical material recovered includes seeds, fruits, pollen, wood, and charcoal, and spans a chronological period of approximately 16,000 years. These botanical remains were examined to determine ecological and environmental conditions prevalent in southwestern Pennsylvania during the last 16,000 years. Particular emphasis is placed on the extent to which the Late Pleistocene ice sheet influenced climatic conditions at Meadowcroft, as determined from botanical data. The presence of several deciduous tree genera in Late Pleistocene times suggests that the influence of glacial ice on vegetation may not have been as great as has been previously believed. |
