Ice Age History, Clovis vs Meadowcroft | The Archaeological Discovery That Rewrote America's First History

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For decades, archaeologists believed the first Americans arrived around 13,000 years ago, leaving behind the distinctive stone tools of the Clovis culture. Then, deep inside a sandstone rockshelter in Pennsylvania, excavations led by archaeologist James Adovasio uncovered evidence suggesting that humans had reached North America thousands of years earlier.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter became the centre of one of archaeology's most bitter controversies. Were its ancient hearths, stone tools and radiocarbon dates proof of a forgotten population that existed long before Clovis? Or had geological contamination created a misleading chronology?

In this episode, we investigate the excavations, the disputed evidence, the Ice Age landscape and the scientific arguments that challenged one of American archaeology's most firmly held beliefs. From the mammoth hunters of Clovis to the mysterious occupants of Meadowcroft, we examine the discoveries that forced archaeologists to reconsider when humans first entered the Americas.

How old is the human story in North America, and how much of its earliest history remains buried?