The Earliest Inhabitants

The Earliest Inhabitants. . , After 10,000 BC, 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 BC–1000 BC), forests of oak trees grew and flourished. As the glaciers melted and caused 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 emergent forests, and used spear throwers to give hunters added killing power. The Late Archaic lifestyle continued into the Early Woodland period (ca. 1000 BC–500 BC), an era marked by the introduction of pottery manufacturing, suggesting a trend toward more permanent settlements., Farming became commonplace in the Late Woodland period (ca. AD 900–1600) as Native Americans settled in permanent villages (some of them palisaded for protection) located on fertile floodplains which could be easily tilled for growing 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 Native American villages near the future site of Alexandria. They included Nacotchtank, a trading center near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers; Namoraughquend, in the vicinity of the National Airport is now located; and Assaomeck, the Machodoc and Tauxenent south of today’s 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., [Captions:] , Projectile points found at Shuter’s Hill west of Old Town , (Illustration: Alexandria Archaeology), Drawing, ca. 1590, by John White depicting a Native American village , (Illustration: Library of Congress), Thomas Harriot and John White documented their late 16th-century adventures along the Carolina coast and Chesapeake Bay in A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia. John White illustrated different fishing methods of Native Americans, including wading along the river edge with spears and using a dugout canoe. , (Illustration: Library of Congress), In 1608, Captain John Smith (1579–1631) explored this area of the Potomac from his base at Jamestown, visiting Native American villages south and north of this site. , (Illustration: Library of Congress)