The Earliest Inhabitants

The Earliest Inhabitants. . , After 10,000 B.C., as glacial ice retreated, small bands of Paleo-Indians moved into the vicinity of what would become Alexandria. Moving frequently within wide areas, these bands hunted game and collected the plant resources of the spruce/pine forests and grasslands., With the advent of a warmer climate and the continued shrinkage of the glaciers during the Archaic period (ca. 7500 B.C.-1000 B.C.), forests of oak trees grew and flourished. As the glaciers melted and caused the sea level to rise, inland marshes formed. By the late Archaic period, the sea-level rise was stabilizing, resulting in an increase in oysters and fish in the Chesapeake and its tributaries. Native Americans developed new tools to exploit the more diverse resources of the changing environment. They ground stone axes for woodworking; made mortars and pestles to grind nuts from the emerging forests; and they used spear throwers to give hunters added killing power. The Late Archaic lifestyle continued into the Early Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C.-500 B.C.), an era marked by the introduction of pottery manufacturing, suggesting a trend toward more prominent settlements., Farming became commonplace in the Late Woodland period (ca. A.D. 900-1000), and Native Americans settled in permanent villages (some of them palisaded for protection) located on fertile floodplains which could be easily tilled to grow maize, squash and beans. The people still supplemented their crops with wild resources such as game, fish and plants., When John Smith sailed up the Potomac from the Jamestown colony in 1608, he found five American Indian villages near the future site of Alexandria. These included Nacotchtank, a trading center near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers; Namaranghquend, in the National Airport area; and Assaomack, Namasshigakent and Tauxenent south of Alexandria., Although no evidence of prehistoric villages has been uncovered in Alexandria, archaeologists have discovered campsites and tool-working sites in many locations, particularly along streams like Holmes Run, Taylor Run and Hunting Creek.