Archaeology and Native Americans

From the Chesapeake Bay Program (

The Chesapeake Bay region's earliest residents, Native Americans, didn't leave a written account of their time here. But they did leave records in the form of artifacts such as stone tools, discarded shells and animal bones, soapstone bowls, and ceramic pots.

Without a written history, artifacts are the only means we have to learn about the day-to-day lives of the Native Americans who once dominated the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Pre-European Settlement Tribes and Artifacts

Paleo-Indians

The first inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay region are known as Paleo-Indians. Archeologists recognize their culture by a stone tool called the Clovis point: an elongated, fluted spear head.

Paleo-Indians lived in a climate much colder than that of the present-day Chesapeake region. These Native Americans spend their days roaming the coniferous forests that dominated this area, probably hunting large game like mammoths and mastodons.

Archaic Indians

The Archaic Indians lived from 9,000 to 3,000 years ago. They had to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, learning to take advantage of foods brought in from rising waters and use the warmer-climate plants that were colonizing the region.

Archaic Indians established trades with other groups to acquire soapstone, which they fashioned into pipes, beads and cooking utensils. Although the Archaic Indians lived away from the Chesapeake Bay shores, they made seasonal visits to fish, hunt, gather roots and harvest oysters.

In the 1970s, archeologists discovered Archaic-period stone tools while excavating for the White House swimming pool.

Woodland Indians

Woodland Indians dominated in the Chesapeake region until European settlers arrived. Woodland Indians are characterized by their use of ceramic pottery, horticulture and, later, the bow and arrow.

Woodland Indians were more “sedentary” than previous Native Americans, building small villages as agriculture progressively became more important. They still established small hunting camps to take advantage of the Bay's bounty.

Recorded Native American History

Recorded history of Chesapeake Native Americans began just prior to the year 1600, when newly arrived European settlers began keeping records. Captain John Smith, who explored the Bay in 1607, found primarily Algonquin-speaking Native Americans living by its shores.

Many distinct tribes with their own wiroance (chief) lived around the Chesapeake Bay, but they often grouped into one confederation. One of the most powerful was the Powhatan Confederation in Virginia, named for its leader (who was also the father of Pocahontas).

Despite its strength and savvy, however, the Chesapeake region's Native American population dropped catastrophically after the arrival of European settlers due to murder, disease and migration.

Native American Archaeological Sites

Scientists estimate there are at least 100,000 archeological sites scattered around the Bay watershed, just a small percentage of which are documented. Most are susceptible to a variety of destructive factors, both natural and man-made.

  • As development rapidly snatches up land around the Bay region, undocumented Native American sites may be bulldozed before their valuable information comes to light.
  • When farmers plow their fields, they can inadvertently destroy artifacts from a Native American tribe.
  • As sea level rises, as it has for many thousands of years, shoreline erosion will continue to wash artifacts into the Bay and its rivers.

Fortunately, preserving historic Native American artifacts goes hand-in-hand with efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

  • The Critical Area Act in Maryland and the Bay Preservation Act in Virginia help protect the area near the Bay's shoreline, where Native American archaeological sites are most likely to exist.
  • Conservation tillage practices encouraged to reduce erosion from farm fields minimize the likelihood of artifact destruction during crop tilling.
  • Shoreline stabilization projects help protect areas along the Bay and its rivers from wave erosion.