Native American Archaeology
In these pages, you will find a brief summary of Native American cultural development in Pennsylvania. This process begins over 16,000 years ago with the earliest inhabitants migrating into the New World during the Ice Age. The process ends in Pennsylvania during the early 18th century when native populations are forced to leave due to the overwhelming intrusion of Europeans. Pennsylvania is situated at a cultural crossroads; bordered by the Canadian and New England boreal forest to the north, coastal environments to the east, and fertile valleys of the Piedmont zone to the south. This results in a series of cultural adaptations and changes that make Pennsylvania archaeology both complicated and fascinating.