The Safe Harbor Petroglyphs, located on the Susquehanna River just below the Safe Harbor Dam in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are the last of what was one of the largest concentrations of American Indian rock art east of the Mississippi River. Even though most of the petroglyphs on the lower Susquehanna are now under water impounded by dams, those remaining at Safe Harbor still constitute the most significant group of rock art sites in the northeast United States accessible to the public. More than 400 petroglyphs can  still be seen on rock exposures on this stretch of the Susquehanna River — if  you know where to look.

A Guide to the Safe Harbor Petroglyphs contains information about Little Indian Rock and Big Indian Rock described in Donald Cadzow’s landmark 1934 publication, Petroglyphs on the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor Pennsylvania, as well as petroglyphs on four additional rocks discovered at Safe Harbor in the 1990s.

Sections of the book include a brief history of the study of the Safe Harbor Petroglyphs, background on the Susquehanna River and the characteristics that may have contributed to the creation of the rock art that exists there, safety tips and recommendations for viewing, descriptions of the petroglyph designs, and charts showing locations of petroglyphs at each rock art site, as well as hard to obtain photographs of many of the carvings.

About the author:

Paul Nevin is the leading  authority on the rock art of the lower Susquehanna River. He has been visiting, documenting, and researching the Safe Harbor Petroglyphs for more than 40 years. His interest in Indigenous Culture goes back even further.

Throughout his adult life, Paul has had the opportunity to learn from Native American Elders and Teachers and participate in sacred activity and ceremony. In 1992, Paul helped organize the Peace and Dignity Journeys, a 13,000-mile spiritual relay run with participants starting from symbolic Four Directions – Massachusetts, California, Alaska, and Argentina – and arriving in Mexico City on October 12, 1992 to celebrate 500 years of Indigenous survival in the Americas. He was also a key player in the effort to save the historic site of the Susquehannock people’s last settlement from development, and preserve and interpret it as York County’s Native Lands County Park.

Paul received a bachelor’s degree in education from the Pennsylvania State University in 1980. He is a former president and long-time board member of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc., as well as board member of the Eastern States Rock Art Research Association, and former director of Susquehanna National Heritage Area’s Zimmerman Center for Heritage, located in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania.

A lifelong resident of York County, Pennsylvania, Paul moved to his home along the Susquehanna River in 1985, where he and his wife raised two daughters and where he continues to be enthralled by the river’s incredible beauty and rich history.

Paul brings his blend of archaeological knowledge and Native American sensibility to this definitive Guide to the Safe Harbor Petroglyphs.