AVELLA, Pa. -- A Washington County archaeological site believed to contain some of the earliest traces of humans in North America is set to reopen after being closed for nearly a year for renovations.

The Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life will reopen Saturday with a new $1.3 million structure that will give visitors an unprecedented view of the excavation of the site thought to be a 16,000-year-old campground.

The state invested $2 million through a grant to expand public access to the site near Avella. The renovation plan included new walkways and restrooms, the widening of an access road, and other improvements.

"There really is no facility that lets you see an excavation like this in North or South America," said James Adovasio, an archaeologist working at the site and executive director of the Archaeology Institute at Mercyhurst College in Erie.

Situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking Cross Creek, an Ohio River tributary, the site was discovered by Albert Miller, who found a flint knife in layers of dirt that had accumulated on the outcrop.

But Miller, whose family farmed nearby land, was concerned about looters. He waited nearly two decades before inviting Adovasio to the site in 1973, according to David Scofield, director of Meadowcroft, which is run by Pittsburgh's Sen. John Heinz History Center.

Radiocarbon tests in 1974 indicated that burnt firewood from the site was 16,000 years old -- older than 11,000-year-old artifacts recovered near Clovis, New Mexico, long considered the oldest evidence of people in North America.

As Adovasio began excavating the site and word spread, visitors began showing up. In 2003, stairs were built and regular public tours began. About 13,000 people visited the site in 2006, according to Scofield.

About one-third of the site has yet to be excavated, he said.

"Visitors will be right here to watch as new discoveries are made," Scofield said.

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