Ancient Hunters
Millions of years ago, the Potomac River once flowed over what is now the Chapter’s West Woods. It left behind river stones that were carried from upstream. These stones are still found scattered on or just beneath the surface. Many of these stones are quartzite, a resource for ancient hunters who used it to make spearheads. Sharp-edged flakes of quartzite tell us that stone points where once made here using a process called knapping.
In our region, the Potomac River flows over soft Triassic shale. This has led to the creation of a wide floodplain with fertile land (some of the most fertile land in Montgomery County). It has long attracted hunters and continues to do so today. The first inhabitants of the Potomac Valley arrived about 12,000 years ago, at the end of the Ice Age. They probably lived close to the river, but they hunted on our Chapter’s land. We know this because prehistoric spearheads are sometimes found. Such discoveries often occur after the ground had been disturbed by digging.
As the millennia past people migrated, culture changed and technology improved. Eventually, the bow-and-arrow was invented and the process of making pottery was discovered. This later period is referred to as the Woodland Period. It covers a period from about 3000 years ago until European contact, which began roughly around 1700 CE.
During the Woodland period small villages were built along the Potomac River. At that time farming supplemented hunting, fishing and the food gathering. One such village, called the Winslow Site, was built around 1400 CE. It was located about 1.5 miles downstream from today’s Sycamore Landing Road. The Winslow Site (18MO9) represents a palisaded village that measured about120 meters in diameter and contained round structures. It’s possible people living at that village hunted our land using the bow and arrow. We have found an arrowhead dating from that time period.
If you find a stone point (spearhead or arrowhead) please collect it and record its location. Then turn it over to a member of the Board Of Governors at a Dinner Meeting.
