Rock shelters are naturally occurring overhangs in sandstone cliff faces that provide protection from wind, rain, and snow. The two small shelters on the hillside were used at various times in the past by groups of Native Americans passing through the area on seasonal hunting or gathering expeditions, serving as temporary camps with a good vantage point over the hillside below. A pole framework covered with bark or animal hides could have enclosed a shelter during bad weather, and with a good fire hearth it would have been a dry, warm place to stay. Because rock shelters are relatively dry compared to open-air sites, they often preserve organic material better and protect deposits from erosion and scattering. They are frequently stratified, which provides better archaeological context, though they are complicated to excavate. Debris, stone tools, and other diagnostic artifacts from these sites were discovered during careful excavation by members of the North Fork Chapter 29 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, and although the tribal names of the people who stayed here may be lost, their legacy remains in the artifacts they left behind.