History Center to host archaeologist from original Meadowcroft Rockshelter excavation
The Senator John Heinz History Center is welcoming Dr. Diane Beynon Landers to share firsthand stories from the groundbreaking excavation of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and reflect on her 40-year career during “Behind the Excavation: Stories from a Life in Archaeology” on Thursday at 6 p.m.
In the 1970s, Landers was part of the original excavation team at Meadowcroft Rockshelter when archaeologists uncovered evidence of human habitation dating back nearly 19,000 years.
That discovery not only transformed history’s understanding of when people first arrived in North America; it marked the beginning of Landers’ remarkable career, which has spanned over four decades.
Landers will be in conversation with Dave Scofield, director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, to discuss the discoveries that shaped her career and the people and places she encountered along the way.
Guests will hear firsthand stories from her time at Meadowcroft and behind-the-scenes insights from a career spent uncovering the past.
Before the program, attendees can explore “Planet Ice: Mysteries of the Ice Ages” on the History Center’s first floor. The exhibit features authentic Paleoindian tools and artifacts from Meadowcroft, including an elk tooth and passenger pigeon bones recovered from the Rockshelter.
Landers is a graduate of Muskingum University with an MBA from Point Park University and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied under Dr. James Adovasio. Landers wrote her dissertation on Meadowcroft and later became an associate professor at Indiana University, where she developed the first archaeology program at the Fort Wayne campus.
Landers serves on the History Center’s board of trustees and is the chair of the Meadowcroft Advisory Board, where she continues her work in archaeology.
For more information, go online to heinzhistorycenter.org/events.