( Fruni  "  Explorations  and  Ficld-Work  of  tlic 
Smithsonian  Institntion  in  103/ ") 
ANCIENT   SITES    ON   THE   BANKS    OF   THE 
RAPPAHANNOCK  IN  VIRGINIA 
By  DAVID  I.  BUSHNELL,  JR. 
Collaborator  in  Anthropology,  U.  S.  National  Musi-iini 
During  the  s\mng  of  1937  a  great  freshet  swept  down  the  valley 
of  the  Rappahannock  from  the  foot  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  where  heavy 
rains  had  fallen  for  several  days.  The  low  grounds  were  inundated, 
and  when  the  waters  had  receded  it  was  discovered  that  many  areas 
liad  been  greatly  altered,  gullies  had  been  formed,  banks  of  sand  had 
been  deposited  and,  in  some  instances,  the  surface  soil  for  a  depth 
of  a  foot  or  more  had  been  washed  away,  causing  the  heavier  masses 
to  settle  and  remain  exposed.  Traces  of  ancient  camps  and  villages 
were  thus  revealed. 
The  valley  of  the  Rappahannock  below  Fredericksburg  is  more 
open,  the  low  grounds  more  extensive,  and  the  river  is  wider  than 
above  the  falls ;  nevertheless,  the  force  of  the  great  flood  was  felt 
far  down  the  stream. 
On  May  9,  when  the  ground  was  becoming  dry,  several  places  be- 
low the  falls  were  again  visited  to  see  the  effect  of  the  flood  and  to 
endeavor  to  recover  some  of  the  material  thought  to  have  been  de- 
posited by  the  swirling  w-aters.  Fortunately,  a  site  of  much  interest 
was  encountered.  It  is  on  the  right  l)ank  of  the  Rappahannock  in 
Caroline  County,  \'a.,  a  mile  or  more  below  the  mouth  of  Lamb  Creek 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  and  is  shown  in  the  aerial  photograph 
reproduced  in  figure  iii,  to  the  right  of  the  black  arrow  which  points 
with  the  current.  This  is  now  a  rich  and  fertile  section  of  the  valley, 
but  visualize  the  same  region  as  it  was  in  1608,  when  first  visited  by 
English  colonists  from  Jamestown — a  dense  forest  with  small  groups 
of  mat-  and  bark-covered  lodges  dotting  the  river  banks,  trails  travers- 
ing the  wilderness,  game  and  wildfowl  to  supply  the  wants  and  re- 
quirements of  the  native  hunters  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and 
streams  teeming  with  fish.  However,  the  earlier  settlement,  traces  of 
which  were  uncovered  by  the  freshet,  is  thought  to  have  been  aban- 
doned before  the  year  1608. 
When  the  site  was  visited  on  Alay  9.  the  surface  for  a  distance  of 
a  hundred  yards  or  more  from  the  river  bank,  and  extending  to  the 
beginning  of  the  wooded  area,  was  sand  and  gravel,  all  vegetation  had 
been  swept  away,  and  in  places  it  was  deeply  gullied.    Fragments  of 
8  107 
