The Camden Site

The Camden Site was the site of a single cabin, occupied about 1680 by an Indian family which had come to the site from the Potomac Valley. Assuming that the silver medal found in the site belonged to the occupant, we can identify him as the chief of the Machotick tribe. The styles of tobacco pipes and domestic ceramics were undergoing change from prehistoric wares to the Colono-Indian wares, known to have continued in use well into the 18th Century in Tidewater Virginia. Stone tools were gradually being supplanted by European-made metallic tools, and the house or cabin was at least partially nailed together, as contrasted to the lashings typical of prehistoric wigwams. Since the custom of having Indian tenants on English plantations was widely followed, we can expect to find many similar sites in eastern Virginia in the future, and excavation of such sites will go far to round out our knowledge of this interesting period of Virginia's history.