E-News | Attend WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series talk tomorrow - WVU ENews

The WVU community is invited to attend a Nature Connection Series talk at the Core Arboretum’s woodland amphitheater at 6 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 30). This week's speaker is David Scofield, director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, and his talk is titled “Living Off the Land: 19,000 years at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter.”

In 1955, a local farmer found Indian artifacts excavated by a groundhog high above the banks of Cross Creek near Avella, Pennsylvania. Professional excavation of the site by the University of Pittsburgh began in 1973. Subsequent radiocarbon dating, conducted by the Smithsonian Institution, placed the earliest human occupation of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter at 19,000 years ago.

Scofield will share the story of the discovery of this National Historic Landmark, discuss the significance of the evidence uncovered during the archaeological excavations and explain how the museum, in partnership with the federally recognized Indian tribes historically present in western Pennsylvania, brings to life the big story of 19,000 years of people living off the land in our region.

Scofield began his museum career in 1988 as a demonstrating craftsman at Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he practiced the 18th century trades of blacksmithing, carpentry, joinery and white oak basket making. After working for the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to develop a turn-of-the-century living history farm as a state historic site, he moved to western Pennsylvania to be part of the Heinz History Center’s effort to develop Meadowcroft. He is a graduate of Delaware Valley College and the Williamsburg Seminar for Historical Administration.

The Nature Connection Series is a series of public talks by local and regional experts on a variety of nature-related subjects that takes place at the WVU Core Arboretum every Tuesday evening through August. This summer, talks have covered topics such as birds, trees, geology, elk in West Virginia, butterflies and many other things.

The talks are free and open to the public, and no registration is required. All the talks are outdoors, so dress for the weather. Talks will be canceled and rescheduled if the weather is inclement. Free parking is available at the Arboretum Parking Lot and the adjacent WVU Coliseum Parking Lot.

The 2022 WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series is supported by the WVU Department of Biology, the WVU Core Arboretum Endowment and donations from the public. All speakers are volunteers. WVU Core Arboretum is Morgantown’s place for nature connection.

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