Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-19
BIG FEAST|NG SITE
OF INDIANS FOUND
Oyster Shell Heap, Covering
Forty Acres in Maryland,
Is Being ExcaVated.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

An enormous heap OF oyster shells,
from to is feet deep and c2-erlng
approximately ~ ceres, which 4--5 on
both sides If Pepes Greek, Md, at its
junction with the Potomac River. Is
being excavated by Herbert w. Kreiger.
curator of ethnology of the Smith
sonian Institution.
The indications are, Kreiger says,
that this was a great feasting ground
for the Algonquin tribes from the upper
Potomac area, who in the generations
lust preceding the arrival of the first
MARYLAND colonistS used to come down
the river for banQuets during the oyster
season. PopeS Greek marks approx
rnately the limit of the Potomac oyster
area. The great size Of the shell heap
indicates it must have been built up
over many years and has resulted
either from enormous gatherings of
Indians or from some local tribe whose
members had prodigious appetites.
Old Fire Sites Found.
The site now is covered with tangle
Of trees and bushes. In past years
parts of the heap were mined as lime
quarry. That the spot was only tenn
porary banqueting site is further indi-
Gated by the scarcity of artifacts and
the absence of any postholes, which
would show wooden houses had been
STGCIGI, All bIlG 4llQ4d1lo Va OAAAo AOSoAASJ
lived in mat-covered houses, supported
by posts set in the ground. The pres
ence of poStholeS is criterion OF the
old village sites.
On the other hand, Kreiger finds
that hearth fires probably were built
season after season in the same spots.
The picture, as he reconStructS 1t, is
that of a group of Indians, possibly a
family, who would select a favorable
spot, build fire and start feast on
oysters. The shells simply were thrown
to one side. Then the family, satiated
with oysters, would move on. During
the next few months the shell heap
would tend to be eVened of, partly
covering the fire site. The next year
the family would be back again, find
the place of last years fire, and settle
down for another feast.
Thus the fires of year after year are
found on top of each other, forming
almost vertical columns through the
shells. Historical records show the
great shell heap was in the country of
the Yoacomino Indians, who gradually
disappeared after ceding their land to
the Lord Baltimore coloniSts.
The shell heap is so large, Krieger
says, local residents find it hard to
believe it ever was piled up by human
hands, and think 1t Is the result of
ground rising from the sea. This is
disproved by the presence of the arti-
facts and the fire sites. It is also
known great oyster shell piles accumu-
lated all along the Atlantic Coast, al
though few are as large as this. It has
been estimated approximately 100000
acres in Maryland and Virginia are
covered by shell Accommodations from
Indian camp sites.
Algonquins Linked to Relics.
The ancient oystermen, it is believed,
collected the oysters from the sub
merged bars about the mouth of Popes
Greek and carried them to the high
banks, where the oysters were roasted
i'll the shell. Stones were placed on
the fires for this purpose. Digging into
the great mound, Krieger has found
flint arrowheadS, stone knives and
scraperS, hammers supposedly used to
open the shells) and fragments Of pot
terry.
Some of these bear cord marks, EVIL
dence that the pots were once.covered
with fabric Of some kind. This,
krieger says, almost certainly identifies
the ancient people as belonging to some
of the Algonquin tribes, rather than,
as some anthropologists have held. be-
ing OF an unknown race which occu-
pied the Atlantic coast line before the
coming of the Indians encountered here
by the white colonists
1t is very doubtful, Krieger says
whether the shell heap is close to the
site of any of the large Indian villages
noted by Capt. John Smith on his voy-
age Of exploration up the Potomac. It
is about eight miles from Port Tobacco,
marked on Smiths map as containing
large village. There is little reason to
believe the shell heap is very ancient.
This Is the first systematic explora-
ton Of a site that has been known for
many years. 1t first was discovered,
according to records Of the Anthropo-
logical Society of Washington, in 1878
by DR.. Elmer r. Reynolds. Investiga-
tons were made later on the spot by
DR.. William H. Holmes, now curator of
the National Gallery of Art, and De
Lancey Gill of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, who studied the, geological
structure of the surroundings.
The excavation of the Popes Greek
mound, Krieger says, is in line with a
project to study all the sites of the
pre-colonial inhabitants Of the District
OF Columbia -Maryland-V Virginia region
in an effort to reconstruct, so far as
possible, the little known life of the
ancient inhabitants. Next week he will
visit newly discovered shell heap site
near Fredericksburg, Va.