312 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 182 



a nucleus of clans, tribes, or nations, a process very much in evidence 

 at the time of white man's arrival to the shores of the New World. 



In the interval between man's coming to the New "World and the 

 arrival of the white man he passed through various cultural stages, 

 one of which was the Archaic. During this time he was still devoted to 

 his nomadic habits, depending upon his skill as a hunter and a gatherer 

 to sustain life. With a new influx during the Early Woodland when 

 the concept of pottery making was introduced, his life enriched 

 somewhat at first and then a restriction was placed upon his roving 

 habits, reducing the range over which he might roam with his new 

 possessions, or worldly goods. 



As pottery making gained in momentum in the subsequent cultures, 

 during the Middle and Late Woodland times, he was compelled to 

 settle for still more limited areas over which he could transport these 

 friable objects without damage. 



In these intervals man managed to gain a certain amount of leisure 

 time, which is the main factor that released him from a creature stage 

 and placed him on a level from which he could look about him and 

 devise certain traits, such as division of labor, the development of a 

 priesthood, and a resulting religion. These, in turn, developed a cer- 

 tain caste system in which evolved a chief, a medicine man, prophets, 

 as well as skilled workmen. 



The people who once occupied this portion of the Koanoke and Dan 

 River valleys first came into the area as Early Man, who roamed the 

 upland area. He in turn developed, after the ecological change, into 

 the Archaic during which time life was harder and he had to do more 

 thinking to be able to survive. Communication between groups was 

 started and the Archaic was brought to a close with the introduction of 

 pottery making and the inception of agriculture, and the Woodland 

 culture had its start. 



Apportionment of labor had its inception about this time and this 

 in turn released leisure time and the rise of religion with its various 

 implications and ramifications through a society. In time limited agri- 

 culture was practiced, and the bow and arrow supplanted the throwing 

 stick and dart. 



At no time in the aboriginal history of the reservoir area was the 

 culture very complicated or developed. Fortified villages were un- 

 known and hence the strain of competition between groups was still 

 rather mild. Houses or shelters were not very stable and for this 

 reason they failed to leave behind any traces of themselves. Food 

 gathering, hunting, and fishing, particularly for shellfish, still formed 

 a major role in their lives. They practiced limited agriculture and 

 therefore only scant remains, in the form of charred beans and corn, 

 were found in the areas investigated. All in all, their material culture 

 was not too worldly. 



