Archaeologists use the term, Woodland, to
describe the cultures of
native people from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago. Archaeologists have
found the beginning of settled village life. They have found
remains of long-term Indian camps which have prepared house floors
and
hearth pits. Some bands
were using river locations as camp sites. This was true of bands living
in
Henrico County.
Population continued to rise with more mixing of
groups of people and increased trade. When people no longer move
about constantly, they are settled [sedentary], rather than nomadic.
Sometime in
the
late Archaic or Early Woodland Period, the people in the Coastal Plain and
Piedmont Regions of Virginia are known to have begun
clearing the land by fire to let edible plants re-seed and grow.
They ate edible seeds from plants like sumpweed,
ragweed,
and sunflower.
They also grew gourds, squashes, Indian potato, tuckahoe and various
greens. They hunted deer, black bear, turkey, squirrel, rabbits,
beaver,
otter, muskrat and water birds. Particularly in the Coastal Plain Region
of
Virginia, the
people fished for shad, herring, rockfish, and sturgeon. Oysters, clams,
crabs and turtles were plentiful.
There were many new applications of technology, as well.
During
this time period native people were making ceramics (pottery) from clay.
Archeologists have found different kinds of pottery in the James River
Valley of Virginia. Many ceramic fragments have been found on Elk
Island in Goochland County, VA. The people also made large bowls and
carvings
from soap stone.
Trade between groups continued to grow. This gave people
access to materials from places beyond where they lived. People also
can get new ideas and knowledge from others. An important advancement was
the development of the bow
and arrows about 800 years ago. By the end of this period
some tribes were living in village settlements. Archaeologists have
found large sites, like one in Rockbridge County. The people
had been introduced to new varieties of maize
(corn), beans and
squash. Agriculture (farming) began to develop. They raised maize (corn),
tobacco, squash,
sunflowers, sumpweed and other plants. People still enjoy cooking traditional
Indian foods. Food was abundant, especially in the
tidal wetlands
areas which had many fish and shell beds of oysters and other marine
life. Indians in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains may have
used dams and fences set in the water [called weirs] to catch large
numbers of fish at one time.
Some tribes
began to build burial
mounds in
which to place the bodies of people who had died. Objects, called "grave goods," were placed in burial
mounds. Stone burial mounds have been found from the South Fork of the
Shenandoah River into West
Virginia. Thomas Jefferson opened a burial
mound which was on his land near Charlottesville. The Ohio Valley at
Moundsville, West Virginia, has important burial mounds.
Related
Sites
Woodland
Cultural Centre Resources
The
Rise of Townlife, 1,100 to 500 Years Ago
pdf file; from Chesapeake Bay Program
Native
American Agriculture in Virginia
Internet
Sites Related to the PaleoIndian, Archaic and Woodland
Periods
Mitigation
& Major Projects Reports
From Cultural Resource Analysts; reports from West Virginia
projects
Return to: Virginia
Indians
