Monacan Village

Monacan Village. circa 1700. The Monacan Indian Nation and Natural Bridge invite you to witness, in a living history environment, glimpses of what life would have been like in a small Monacan Village (sic) 300 years ago along the banks of Cedar Creek., This is a project of reconstructive archelogy. (Reconstructing a Monacan village according to archeological record of the southwestern and Piedmont regions of Virginia.), The Monacan Indians are a Soiuan speaking people, who migrated to this region over 1500 years ago from the northwest. They became sedentary, and began constructing their villages and hamlets along the broad flood plains of the James River and its tributaries, from present day Richmond, Virginia west into this region of southwestern Virginia., Defensive perimeters, called palisades, were constructed in a circular pattern with the village contained within. They lived primarily in round and sub-rectangular shaped loges called “ati” which measured from 15 to 25 ft. in diameter covered with sheets of bark or cattails., Their primary source of food was the white-tailed deer, wild turkey, box turtle, nuts, and berries., The village site, in a living history environment, will reflect what you may have seen on a typical day: hide tanning, bone, stone, shell and wooden tool construction, traditional Monacan horticulture and food preparation, ceramics and clothing., Due to the nature of this project, the requirement of historical accuracy, the availability of natural resources, and tradition construction practices, this will be a “work in progress”, and a future monument to the Monacan Indian Nation.