Native American Archaeology in Anne Arundel County, Maryland

We invite you to go back in time and explore the region's rich Native American history, archaeology, and heritage through this virtual toolbox. Designed for students, teachers and the curious public, the website shares local archaeological discoveries that have helped document a deep history of indigenous peoples in what is today known as Anne Arundel County, Maryland. 

The Native American Heritage Toolbox provides historical context along with links to multimedia resources, including information about artifacts excavated from across the county, presentations by academic experts, web resources, worksheets, and videos.

 Toolbox Takeaways: 

• Discover how indigenous peoples have adapted to an ever-changing world over 13,000 years through resilience, growth, and migration. 
• Consider how native populations adapted to a changing climate and environment. 
• Explore how artifacts, traditions, foodways, and languages have evolved over millennia. 
• Learn that archaeologists divide Native American history into 4 time periods called the Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Contact Periods.
• Understand how archaeologists use scientific methods to study people in the past through the objects that they left behind.
• Realize that despite profound impacts from the time of European colonization in the 17th century, Native Americans survive and thrive in the region today.

Archaeologists rely upon time periods to help organize their research. How artifacts change over time reveals much about how people have changed and how they have stayed the same--even across millennia.

As archaeologists study indigenous peoples looking for changes in their cultures based on artifacts that survive, they recognize that the ever-changing natural environment has always been a primary and significant influence.

 Scholars divide the past 13,000 years in the Mid-Atlantic into three large time periods, some of which are subdivided further because they span such a long period of time.  

For this toolbox, these time periods help organize information broad patterns of history, artifacts, culture, and ways of life.

For each time period, explore how these cultures changed and how social structures, settlement patterns and trade networks have evolved. Archaeological studies can also reveal unique expressions of art, spiritual and burial practices, and even linguistic traditions. A common connection across all time periods can also explored in foodways: what Native peoples hunted, gathered, and ate. 

Stone tools are a common artifact type that survives in the archaeological record, and archaeologists are keenly interested in their shapes, how they were made, what types of stone were selected to make a tool, and how they were used and adapted over time. 

Housing also changed over time, from temporary and expedient dwellings in earlier, more nomadic eras, to more permanent structures and even planned villages later on. 

Ceramics or pottery, though not used until the Woodland period, are one of the most studied types of native artifacts, because as with stone tools, they survive in the ground. Their construction methods and use lend valuable insight into a material world that can yield vast amounts of data.

1.  Paleoindian Period  (13,000-11,500 years ago)
2.  Archaic Period  (11,500-3,000 years ago)
3.  Woodland Period  (3,000-400 years ago)
4.  The Jug Bay Cultural Complex 
5.  The Story Continues  (400 years ago to present)
6.  Additional Resources 
7.  Archaeology 101 

Explore the major time periods below, and then dig deeper into local examples of recent archaeological research at the Jug Bay Cultural Complex. 

This dense concentration of more than 75 unique archaeological sites along the shores of the Patuxent River in southern Anne Arundel and Prince Georges Counties represents the entire 13,000 years of local indigenous presence. The Jug Bay Cultural Complex is a highly significant and invaluable archaeological resource.

13,000 - 11,500 years ago

11,500 - 3,000 years ago

3,000 - 400 years ago

400 years ago - present day

Check out the resources below to learn more about Native American history and archaeology in Maryland.

•  Native American Heritage Toolbox Worksheet , companion exercise to this toolbox focusing on the main takeaways.
•  We Have a Story to Tell: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region , a guide for teachers grades 9-12 by the  National Museum of the American Indian 

•  Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians 
•  Piscataway Conoy Tribe 

•  Native American Heritage in Anne Arundel County , webpage by Anne Arundel County's Cultural Resource Section
•  Piscataway Exhibit  at Historic London Town & Gardens
•  American Indian Tribes Today: Native People of the Chesapeake , webpage by the National Park Service’s Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
•  East Baltimore’s Historic American Indian “Reservation” , website by Dr. Ashley Miller
•  Maryland American Indian Sites and Experiences , website by Visit Maryland
•  Maryland at a Glance: Native Americans , webpage by the Maryland State Archives
•  Maryland’s Prehistory , webpage by Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
•  Mayis Indigenous Records , online database by the Maryland State Archives
•  Native American Heritage , webpage by Prince George’s County Libraries
•  Native Americans in Maryland: A Resource Guide , website by University of Maryland Libraries

•  The Lost Towns Project 
•  Anne Arundel County Cultural Resources Section 
•  Prince George's County Archaeology and Paleontology Program 
•  Upper Patuxent Archaeology Group (Howard County) 

•  Archaeology at Jug Bay 
•  A Race Against Time: Maryland Archaeology and the Quest to Recover History 
•  Discovering Archaeological Sites Along the Patuxent River with Stephanie Sperling 
•  Discover the Jug Bay Archaeological Complex 
•  Jug Bay Archaeological Survey 
•  Maryland Archaeology: Unearthing Forgotten History 
•  Return to a Native Place: Native People of the Chesapeake Region 
•  The Archaeology of the Patuxent River 

•  Baltimore American Indian Center 
•  National Museum of the American Indian 

•  Guide to Indigenous Baltimore , app by Dr. Elizabeth Rule
•  Guide to Indigenous DC , app by Dr. Elizabeth Rule
•  Guide to Indigenous Maryland , website and app by Maryland’s public libraries and Dr. Elizabeth Rule

•  Indians of Southern Maryland , book by Helen Rountree and Rebecca Seib
•  Land Acknowledgement Project Overview and Resource Guide , PDF by the Maryland State Arts Council
•  Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs 

This toolbox was created by the  Lost Towns Project , a non-profit dedicated to exploring the Mid-Atlantic's history, archaeology, and heritage. We would like to thank the following entities for their support on this project:

• The Native Peoples of Maryland, past and present
•  Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area  and the  Maryland Heritage Areas Authority  for their financial support ¹ 
•  Anne Arundel County’s Office of Planning & Zoning, and its Cultural Resources Section staff  for providing subject matter expertise, access to artifacts, photography assistance and for sponsoring this StoryMap on their Native American Heritage Resources website and server. 
•  Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary  for their feedback and for being a longtime research partner and supporter of local archaeology
•  AACPS   Social Studies Office  and Office of  Equity & Accelerated Student Achievement , especially Eve Case and the Katara West, for their feedback, and for their continued partnership to develop local history resources for students
• Barry Gay for the use of his fantastic artistic reproductions of Native Americans in Anne Arundel County
• Stephanie Sperling and Zachary Singer for content review
• Lost Towns  Volunteers  and  Interns  who assisted on this project: Barry Gay & Emily Lucie

 ¹   _{This project has been financed in part with State Funds from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.} 

 The Lost Towns Project  would love to hear your thoughts on this toolbox.  Send us an email here.