Life in the region before European contact (11,000 BC - 1600 AD)
Native peoples used the land we now call Southern Maryland during several periods defined by archaeologists, including the Paleoindian (11,000 BC – 9500 BC), Archaic (9500 BC – 1250 BC), and Woodland (1250 BC – 1600 AD).
A significant number of prehistoric sites identified near Parkers Creek and the Bay date from the Woodland period. Archaeologists believe that indigenous people used this area for short-term resource-procurement camps that supported larger, more permanent settlements near the Patuxent River to the west.
Further Reading/Web Page:
EXPLORE OTHER ERAS:
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European settlement (ca. 1650 – ca. 1780s)
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Rural intensification and slavery (1730 – 1865)
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Small scale agricultural economy (1865 – 1940)
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Reduction in agriculture, recreational development, and return to forest (1940 – present)
