History of Maryland - Pre-colonial History

Pre-colonial History

It appears that the first humans to arrive in the area that would become Maryland appeared around the 10th millennium BCE, about the time that the last ice age ended. They were hunter-gatherers organized into semi-nomadic bands. They adapted as the region's environment changed, developing the spear for hunting as smaller animals, like deer, became more prevalent, and by about 1500 BCE oysters had become an important food resource in the region. With the increased variety of food sources, Native American villages and settlements started appearing and their social structures increased in complexity. By about 1000 BCE pottery was being produced. With the eventual rise of agriculture more permanent Native-American villages were built. But even with the advent of farming, hunting and fishing were still important means of obtaining food. The bow and arrow were first used for hunting in the area around the year 800. They ate what they could kill, grow or catch in the rivers and other waterways.

By 1000 BCE, there were about 8,000 Native Americans, all Algonquian-speaking, living in what is now the state, in 40 different villages. The following Piscataway tribes lived on the eastern bank of the Potomac, from south to north: Yaocomicoes, Chopticans, Nanjemoys, Potopacs, Mattawomans, Piscataways, Patuxents, and Nacotchtanks. The area the Nacotchtank lived in is now the District of Columbia. On the west bank of the Potomac river in what is now Virginia were the related tribes of the Patawomeck and the Doeg. Further west in the Appalachian Mountains, the Shawnee lived near Oldtown at a site abandoned around 1731. On the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, from south to north, there were the Nanticoke tribes: Annemessex, Assateagues, Wicomicoes, Nanticokes, Chicacone, and, on the north bank of the Choptank River, the Choptanks. The Tockwogh tribe lived near the headwaters of the Chesapeake near what is now Delaware.

When Europeans began to settle in Maryland in the early 17th century, the main tribes included the Nanticoke on the Eastern Shore. Early exposure to new European diseases brought widespread fatalities to the Native Americans, as they had no immunity to them. Communities were disrupted by such losses.