Walker Prehistoric Village Archeological Site is an archeological site located near

Poolesville Poolesville is a U.S. town in the western portion of Montgomery County, Maryland. The population was 5,742 at the 2020 United States Census. It is surrounded by (but is technically not part of) the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, and is ...

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

. The site is a large

Late Woodland In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeolo ...

village located on

Selden Island Selden Island is a 408-acre island in the Potomac River, located about WNW of Washington, DC. It is about 4 km long and 0.4–0.5 km wide (2.5 x 1/4–1/3 miles). Although it is located within Montgomery County, Maryland, the only roa ...

in 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 Augu ...

. Excavations carried out in the 1930s and 1940s revealed a 40-foot section of a palisade, circular house patterns, shallow oval pits and cylindrical pits, and flexed burials interred in the floors of the houses. The island lends its name to a characteristic

Early Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologi ...

ceramic ware Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and porc ...

known as Selden Island ware, dating from 1000 – 750 BCE and distributed from Virginia to Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania including Maryland's piedmont and coastal plain. The archaeological site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975.

References

External links

*, including photo in 1980, at Maryland Historical Trust website Archaeological sites in Montgomery County, Maryland Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Native American history of Maryland Late Woodland period National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Maryland {{MontgomeryCountyMD-NRHP-stub