Accokeek Creek Site, also known as Moyaone, is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...

, located along the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

across from

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

in today's

Piscataway Park Piscataway Park is a National Park Service-protected area located southwest of downtown Washington, D.C. in and around Accokeek, Maryland. It protects the National Colonial Farm, Marshall Hall, and the Accokeek Creek Site. The park is locate ...

, which was inhabited intermittently since 2000 BC. Accokeek Creek Site was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1964.

Description

The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

describes the site as "remarkable for its variety and concentration of human occupation sites. Accokeek included a palisaded village that was occupied from ca. A.D. 1300 to ca. 1630. The site has been used by archeologists to define a culture-history sequence in prehistoric archaeology for the Mid-Atlantic region." Moyaone, also named the Accokeek Creek site, is the sister site of

Potomac Creek, 44ST2 Potomac Creek, or 44ST2, is a late Native American village located on the Potomac River in Stafford County, Virginia. It is from the Woodland Period and dates from 1300 to 1550. There is another Potomac Creek site, 44ST1 or Indian Point, which wa ...

and it is thought that they were settled around the same time.William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.
Return to Potomac Creek (44ST2): Archaeology at a Late Prehistoric Native American Village
." Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The site dates from the Late Archaic Period, ca. 3,000 BC, to the historic period. During the Middle Woodland Period, ca. AD 800, small horticultural villages were established. The village that appeared during the late-16th/early-17th centuries is where the reference to Moyaone is from. This village had many palisade lines and faced the Potomac."."

Maryland Historical Trust The Maryland Historical Trust is an agency of Maryland Department of Planning and serves as the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office. The agency serves to assist in research, conservation, and education, of Maryland's historical and cultural ...

. The formations of this site and Potomac Creek are similar in that the outermost system of the village is the only one to include an interior ditch or borrow pits. There are no bastions found at the Moyaone village. A maximum population for Moyaone is calculated to be 300-320 with the size of the village being 6,100 m². Archaeology has indicated numerous building periods which leads to believing these people had a long occupation at the site. Four ossuaries were found near the village and hold the remains of over 1,000 people. The village was abandoned before Contact. At the north end of the area near the Piscataway Creek there was a rectangular fort that was occupied by the

Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...

s in 1674-75.

Ceramics

Moyaone ceramics are a Late Woodland ware and date from ca. AD 1300-AD 1650. They are found throughout the Western Shore Coastal Plain of Maryland. The ceramics are characterized by fine grained sand and mica temper, soft texture, compact paste, and smoothed interior and exterior surfaces. The paste is made of a fine-grained clay and has a texture that is soft, smooth, and compact. The temper is made from a fine-grained sand that has mica in it, which gives off a slight glitter appearance. There are three defined types named Moyaone Plain, Moyaone Cord-Impressed, and Moyaone Incised. Moyaone Plain is undecorated. The Cord-Impressed is a simple ceramic and decoration is limited to the rim and lip. Decorations include stamped, rolled onto the vessel, or a cord that is horizontal, vertical, or diagonal to the rim. The Incised decoration is limited to the lip, rim, and upper body area. The decoration used on this type of ceramic consists of incised lines that are made with a sharp tool or a wide, dull tool.

Significance

The site was excavated by Alice L.L. Ferguson in the 1930s-1940s and the material was analyzed by Robert L. Stephenson in the 1950s.The Accokeek Creek Site, A Middle Atlantic Seaboard Culture Sequence. Robert L. Stephenson and Alice L. L. Ferguson, with sections by Henry G. Ferguson. (Anthropological Papers No. 20, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan) Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1963. The site served as a basis for understanding the ceramic chronology that appears in the Middle Atlantic region. The chronology that was made was the Early Woodland Marcey Creek/Accokeek/Popes Creek, Middle Woodland Mockley, Late Woodland Potomac Creek continuum. The Moyaone village represents the largest and last-occupied Piscataway village before the arrival of Europeans.

Piscataway Piscataway may refer to: *Piscataway people, a Native American ethnic group native to the southern Mid-Atlantic States *Piscataway language *Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community *Piscataway, New Jersey, a township *Piscataway Creek, Ma ...

leader

Turkey Tayac Turkey Tayac, legally Philip Sheridan Proctor (1895–1978), was a Piscataway Indian leader and herbal medicaine practitioner; he was notable in Native American activism for tribal and cultural revival in the 20th century. He had some knowledg ...

"supported the creation of Piscataway Park t the site on one condition: that he could be buried there, and that his people could always visit freely, for cultural and spiritual purposes." Because there was no record of this verbal agreement and handshake, he was not buried at Moyaone until 1979, a year after his death, when Congress passed legislation"Chief Turkey Tayac, burial in Oxon Hill, Md." Title III; October 12, 1979 permitting his burial in a national park area.

Selected publications

*''The Accokeek Creek Site, A Middle Atlantic Seaboard Culture Sequence''. Robert L. Stephenson and Alice L. L. Ferguson, with sections by Henry G. Ferguson. (Anthropological Papers No. 20, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan) Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1963. *Barse, William P. ''A Trail Formulation of Vessel Assemblages in Selected Accokeek, Popes Creek, and Mockley Ware Collections''. 1990. *Stephenson, Robert L. ''Prehistoric People of Accokeek Creek''. 1959.

References

External links

*, including 1997 photo, Maryland Historical Trust
Accokeek Creek ceramic
The Port Tobacco Archaeological Project {{Native Americans in Maryland Accokeek, Maryland National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Archaeological sites in Prince George's County, Maryland Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Native American history of Maryland Susquehannock Piscataway tribe National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland