Introduction

Abstract

The fall line of the Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia was home to countless Native Americans who prehistorically left us evidences of their lifeways. It is a rich area archaeologically, and, in many ways, it is a complicated area to produce a history covering the Native Americans’ 10,000+ years of occupation, which ranges from temporary campsites to long-term villages. This area was sparsely occupied during the early human history and heavily occupied at the time Captain John Smith visited the Potomac in 1608 (Potter 1993). The river’s name is derived from the Patawomeke tribe that once lived in what is now Stafford County, Virginia (McCary 1957). Or as: The 16 of June [1608], we fell with the River Patowomek (Captain John Smith as in Haile 1998). The first Native Americans that Captain Smith met in the MRPV area were the Doeg, later changed to the Dogue (Johnson 1996).