Archaeological evidence indicates that American Indians occupied this land for approximately ten thousand years before the Europeans arrived. The first Native American occupants were nomadic hunters in search of large game animals. Later groups began to build villages along the rivers and streams.

Prehistoric: Original Inhabitants

Many American Indian groups lived in palisaded villages at the time of European contact. Their houses were built of poles, bent and tied together at the top, and set in the ground in a circular or rectangluar fashion. They were covered with bark or fiber mats. Archaeologists have found evidence of similar structures at Flowerdew Hundred.

When the Europeans first arrived, they found that agriculture played an important role in the lifeways of the aboriginal inhabitants. The American Indians cultivated crops of corn, pumpkins and beans for food, while continuing hunting, fishing and gathering activities.

The arrival of European settlers permanently changed the existing pattern of native life. The resulting conflict between the two cultures led to almost total destruction of the traditional American Indian way of life.