BUSHNELL] NATIVE VILLAGES AND VILLAGE SITES 31 
1607, and among these various sites one of the most interesting is on 
the left bank of the Choptank, a short distance below Cambridge, 
Dorchester County, Maryland. This was the position of a Nanticoke 
town which was occupied by them until the year 1722 (Mercer, 
(1), p. 98), and was indicated on the Herrman map of 1673 by the 
legend “Indian Towns.” The Nanticoke were related linguistically 
with the Delaware and by some are thought to have been the early 
Tocwogh. However, both names were mentioned by Smith. The 
site below Cambridge will at once recall the present condition of the 
ancient settlement at Corn Hill, just north of Pamet River, on Cape 
Cod. The site on the bank of the Choptank has been covered by 
drifting sand in places to a depth of more than 20 feet. Now the 
surface upon which the village stood is indicated by a dark line on 
the face of the cliff bordering the river. This line is seldom more than 
a foot in thickness, and while the sand beneath it is often discolored 
through infiltration of matter from the old surface, the superstratum 
is quite pure. As the bank falls away into the encroaching waters 
camp refuse is revealed, objects of stone and fractured pebbles are 
found, and bits of earthenware are numerous. ‘Traces of an ancient 
hearth were once exposed on the face of the cliff but the stones soon 
fell away. A rather large ossuary was exposed beneath the black 
stratum. The bones were not in any order and no objects of any 
kind were associated with them. How interesting would ‘be a de- 
tailed description of this ancient village which stood less than two 
centuries ago. But it may be assumed the habitations were the 
dome-shaped wigwam, covered with mats or sheets of bark, as 
described in a journal of a voyage to Maryland in 1705. From the 
original manuscript preserved in the British Museum the following 
quotation is made: 
“They take Care to build there Cabbins which they always doe on 
a swamp or Branch neare to a Little run of water, they Cutt downe 
halfe a dozen forked Poles and sett ’m up on end, then they cutt 
Downe some small Poles for Rafters and so Covering it with Barke, 
they make there fire in the Middle of the Cabbin and so lye Round 
itt upon Matts or Bears skins.’”’ (Bushnell, (2), pp. 535-536.) 
Unfortunately the manuscript does not bear the name of its author, 
nor the place where the observations were made, but the description 
would probably apply to the entire region, on the shore of the bay 
as well as inland. 
Quite similar to these were the structures of the people of tidewater 
Virginia, the tribes of the Powhatan confederacy, with whom the 
colonists came in contact during the spring of 1607. Fortunately 
an excellent description of their villages has been preserved and is 
quoted at length (Strachey, (1), pp. 70-76): 
“Theire habitations or townes are for the most part by the rivers, 
or not far distant from fresh springs, comonly upon a rice of a hill 
