The Williamson Site is an early prehistoric
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 ...
located about 5 miles East of
Dinwiddie,
Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Dinwiddie County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 27,947. Its county seat is Dinwiddie, Virginia, Dinwidd ...
along the south bank of the Little Cattail Creek. It is one of the largest
Early Man sites in North America and dated to sometime between 15,000 and 11,500 years
Before Present
Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...
. It 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 v ...
in 1969.
Archaeology
The site was first identified in 1947 after 4 fluted points were found there and it was noted that the surface was covered with cores and unused flakes. Thirty three Paleo-Indian fluted points and a number of snub-nosed scrapers, side scrapers, fluted basal ends of knives, and gravers were subsequently recovered, primarily of
chert
Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
. A large number of projectile points from later period, mostly made of
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
, were found as well. It consists of more than 75 acres of cultivated land. The site consists of over 100 areas where projectile points have been found.
In 1965 Ben McCary and Vance Haynes made two bulldozer cuts to test for possible stratigraphy. One cut showed possible stratigraphy. In March 1972 another excavation occurred. After cleaning the earlier bulldozer cut to establish strata, two 10 by 10 foot squares were excavated. Finds included a small crude fluted quartzite projectile point, a chert flake, two scrapers, and a hammerstone.
From 1992 to 1994 the site was excavated by Phillip J. Hill. Thirteen 5-foot squares were opened and a variety of flakes and tool debris were found.
[Hill, Phillip J., "A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE WILLIAMSON SITE IN DINWIDDIE COUNTY, VIRGINIA: AN INTERPRETATION OF INTRASITE VARIATION", Archaeology of Eastern North America, vol. 25, pp. 159–73, 1997]
References
Further reading
*Hranicky, Wm Jack, "A MICROBLADE CORE FROM THE WILLIAMSON SITE, DINWIDDIE COUNTY, VIRGINIA", Archaeology of Eastern North America, vol. 33, 2005, pp. 51–56, 2005
*Peck, Rodney M., "A REAMER FROM THE WILLIAMSON SITE, DINWIDDIE COUNTY, VIRGINIA", Central States Archaeological Journal, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 62–63, 2001
*Rodney M. Peck, "America's Largest Paleo-Indian Workshop Site, Dinwiddie County Virginia: The Williamson Site. A complete site report of America's Largest Paleo-Indian Site", Peck's Place Publishing, 2005
*Peck, Rodney M., "PALEO INDIAN TOOL KIT OF THE WILLIAMSON SITE", Central States Archaeological Journal, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 154–57, 2003
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Dinwiddie County, Virginia
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