Drawn to the stories that earth holds? Accokeek Creek archeological site awaits your discovery. This site is located along the Potomac River in Southern Maryland. It stands as one of the nation’s most significant sites. Its excavation greatly impacted our modern understanding of Native American societies in the Eastern Middle Atlantic.
Accokeek Creek lies within Piscataway Park. The National Park Service administers this park. Situated about 25 miles downriver from Washington D.C., the Accokeek Creek site was home to indigenous people for thousands of years. Evidence suggests habitation dating back 6000 years ago through the 1500s. Among these early residents were the Piscataway Indians of Southern Maryland. Their ancestors still live nearby.
In the 1930s, Alice and Henry Ferguson excavated the Accokeek Creek site. The Fergusons purchased land for their home in what is now Piscataway Park in the 1920s. After uncovering tens of thousands of artifacts, they believed they had rediscovered Moyaone. Moyaone was the principal town of the Piscataway chiefdom visited by Captain John Smith in 1608. The accuracy of the Fergusons’ claim remains disputed. However, the excavations yielded many diagnostic artifacts. These artifacts have aided archaeologists in understanding Native American history and culture in the region.
Archaeologists analyzed stone projectile points. This analysis revealed that humans intermittently called Accokeek Creek home for nearly 6000 years. The site also contains four ossuaries. These ossuaries appear to have been in use between the 1300s and European contact in the 1600s. The individuals buried in the ossuaries had elaborate grave goods. These included copper adornments, shell beads, and clay pipes. These finds indicate that politically complex chiefdoms occupied the area by the 1500s. Accokeek Creek was the home of the Piscataway chiefdom. Excavations suggest that dozens of buildings once stood here. Protective palisades surrounded these structures. This suggests that Accokeek Creek’s inhabitants lived in a sometimes violent world.
Archaeologists believe that the Piscataway’s predecessors came from the Appalachian Mountains. They arrived in the Chesapeake Bay around the 1300s. They brought their Algonquian language and material culture with them. Some historians and archaeologists believe the Piscataway migrated from Maryland’s Eastern Shore instead. Whatever the origin, their arrival resulted in complex cultural traditions in the Potomac Valley.
Captain John Smith visited Piscataway Creek in 1608. He was on his voyage up the Potomac River and its tributaries. Smith’s 1612 map of the Chesapeake shows Moyaons. It is placed in the approximate location of Accokeek Creek. Map symbols indicate that a werowance lived here. A werowance was a powerful Native American chieftain. The chieftain controlled other groups within a geographical area. In 1634, English colonists met with Piscataway leaders at Moyaone. Their leader, Wannas, told the colonists that the lands of Piscataway Creek belonged to them. He said that English settlement could not occur there. It is unknown if the Accokeek Creek site represents this 17th-century village. It might be an earlier settlement that the Piscataway nation relocated from. Regardless, this territory was fundamentally important to the Piscataway people.
By the 1690s, English colonists had confiscated Piscataway land. Maryland planters occupied the land. Eventually, the Piscataway nation moved beyond the borders of the Maryland Colony. They dispersed north and west. While many Piscataway migrated, others stayed. These people formed the ancestors of today’s Piscataway inhabitants.
The diagnostic artifacts and archeological features at the Accokeek Creek site have helped create a cultural history of the Mid-Atlantic region. Since its rediscovery in the 1930s, Accokeek Creek has been vital. It is one of the most important sites for understanding the Native American societies of the East Coast. The echoes of the past resonate here. They invite reflection on the rich history of Accokeek Creek.