page_title: South Carolina
section_title: Precolonial period
hierarchical_section_title: South Carolina / History / Precolonial period
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Palazzo dei Diamanti (Ferrara) This is a photo of a monument which is part of cultural heritage of Italy. This monument participates in the contest Wiki Loves Monuments Italia 2017. See authorisations. (wiki-ID: 038008553)
context_page_description: South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.
  South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on May 23, 1788. It also became the first state to vote in favor of secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. After the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25, 1868.
  South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U.S. state. In 2019 its GDP was $249.9 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 133,451 in 2018; while its largest city is Charleston with a 2018 population of 136,208. The Greenville–Anderson–Mauldin metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a 2018 population estimate of 906,626.
  South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, who first formed the English colony, with Carolus being Latin for "Charles".
context_section_description: There is evidence of human activity in the area about 40,000 years ago. At the time Europeans arrived, marking the end of the Pre-Columbian era around 1600, there were many separate Native American tribes, the largest being the Cherokee, and the Catawba, and the total population being up to 20,000.
  Up the rivers of the eastern coastal plain lived about a dozen tribes of Siouan background. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee, Yuchi, and the Yamasee. Further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River, the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their primary food source. The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, roofed with wood or thatched grass.
  About a dozen separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles (80 km) mostly by canoe, they wintered on the coastal plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts and fruit. The names of these tribes survive in place names like Edisto Island, Kiawah Island, and the Ashepoo River.
caption: Top left, the shores of Florida and the future Carolina explored in 1500 and showed in 1502 on the Cantino planisphere
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