Digging Sheep Rock

Did you know? The dig at Sheep Rock Shelter went on for most of a decade before Raystown Lake covered it.

The shelter was discovered in 1957, and systematic digging began on July 14, 1958. In 1959 John Witthoft and W. Fred Kinsey III, then the State Anthropologist and the State Archaeologist, took over the excavation, working with crews of college students. In 1966 Penn State ran a field school there, with Juniata College as its host for the ten weeks of the season.

The dry overhang preserved organic material almost never found in Pennsylvania's wet climate, among it 292 pieces of two ply cordage. The 1967 Penn State report says the digging reached a depth of over twenty feet in one area, and that someone estimated the finds from four seasons of excavation at more than 80,000 items.

Myer Souders shared a photograph of the excavation with us, along with others of the shelter.

Checked 2026-10-29 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

← All stories from County wide

Have something to add to this story, or a photograph of it? Send it here →