Port Barnett Rock Shelter was recorded in the Carnegie Museum archaeological survey in 1979 by Ken Burkett and Ray Fitzgerald as Site #36Je55. Most of the diagnostic chipped stone artifacts recovered during excavation are projectile points made of Onondaga chert found in the glacial outwash sediments of the Allegheny River or of locally available Jefferson County chert. Comparison of these points to known and dated typologies shows that people began visiting the shelter at least 5,300 years ago. Other finds include a finely crafted small stone bead and a preform for a large tubular shaped smoking pipe that was broken and discarded before the smoking chamber was drilled and finished. Prehistoric pottery fragments indicate that entire families sometimes stayed there. Historic artifacts include square cut nails, bullets and shell casings, glass and ceramic sherds, and pop tabs from the 1960s and 70s. The recovered materials are curated at the Jefferson County History Center. The site reflects several cultural periods: Archaic hunters and gatherers used axes, atlatl weights, grinding stones, stone drills, and varied stone spear point styles while hunting, fishing, and collecting plant foods; during the Transitional period, less precipitation shifted activity toward floodplains and brought soapstone bowls and broad bladed spear points worked into knives, drills, and scrapers; in the Early Woodland period, semi-permanent settlements began and fired clay pottery, stone gorgets, and tube-shaped smoking pipes appeared; by the Late Woodland period, most groups practiced agriculture, lived in permanent villages, used numerous pottery shapes and designs and elaborate clay smoking pipes, and commonly used stone celts and the bow and arrow.