You are standing in front of the “First Peoples” object case. To your right is the introduction to the exhibition. To your left is an object case titled “Shell Middens.” The information desk is behind you.

This case includes text, a large map, and 12 objects.

The main text reads:

First Peoples 

Native Americans inhabited this land for thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived.

Native peoples visited this land seasonally to hunt, fish, and gather oysters. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of cultivated crops, local styles of pottery, and artifacts that hint at the rich cultural lives of these peoples. Descendants of these first inhabitants still live in the region today and continue to celebrate their cultures and traditions.

Who Lived Here?
Historians aren’t sure which Native peoples occupied this particular area. It may have served as a shared transition zone among several tribes, including the Susquehannock, Massawomeck, Piscataway, Nanticoke, and Powhatan.

There is a large image of the first detailed map of the region published by Captain John Smith in 1612. It shows the approximate location of SERC’s campus on the Rhode River. When Smith sailed up the Chesapeake Bay in 1608, he encountered many Native peoples.

There are 12 objects in this case, from top to bottom:

Six projectile points of varying sizes, shapes and colors recovered from Woodlawn and Crofton, Maryland. Early Native Americans in this area hunted using projectile points affixed to spears or wooden javelins. Some of these examples may be more than 10,000 years old.

Three stone tools recovered from Woodlawn. Two are biface tools (knives) and one is a hammer stone. Local Native Americans used stone tools for a variety of tasks, including digging, cutting, scraping, chopping, piercing, carving, and hammering. Some of the stone used to make these tools comes from the Appalachian Mountains, indicating travel and/or trade with other peoples.

Two pottery sherds recovered from Woodlawn and Crofton, Maryland. Local Native Americans crafted pottery from clay, sand, crushed oyster shells, and crushed stone. They often decorated their pottery with incisions or impressions made by cords or nets.

Fire-cracked rocks recovered from Mattawoman Creek in Charles County, Maryland. To cook food, Native Americans in this area heated rocks in fires, which they placed in clay pots and waterproof baskets to boil the contents. Repeated heating and cooling caused many of the rocks to explode in characteristic ways that archaeologists can identify.