Acheological History of Virginia

I just learned something new about the archeological history of Virginia. I learned that the American continent was first inhabited by humans, not just 12000 to 13000 years ago as earlier thought, but at least 18000 to 20000 years ago. The 12000 years marker period is called Clovis-first, named after the archeological evidence found at Clovis, New Mexico in the 1930s. Moreover, the new research finding is based on the discovery in the mid-1980s and subsequent research of the local archeological site found in Cactus Hill Virginia, approximately 150 miles south of Washington DC.

At the onset, you may not find this as interesting as I do. Frankly, I think it's likely that you did not know exactly how early this continent was inhabited. I say this based on my own experience. Even though I had a rough idea that the first humans crossed the Bering strait thousands of years ago from Asia onto the American continent, I didn't know how many thousands of years.

I have come across a lot of archeological history of this region mostly starting with the first colonial settlement in Jamestown and then centering around the American Revolution and the Civil War. As interesting as it is, we are talking about 1607 onwards since the Jamestown settlement, or just over four hundred years ago, compared to 12000 years for the Clovis first era and 18000 years for the Custis Hill habitat era.

I recognize that the gap in our knowledge of history in the colonial and pre-colonial periods is due to several reasons such as the lack of archeological or written evidence. But that does not automatically imply that human existence in this region in the pre-colonial period was uneventful or uninteresting. It's just that we don't yet know much about it and should be more embarrassed about that. And that is why this new knowledge is so interesting to me, who has only a few decades of habitation in this region. It also leaves me with mixed feelings about my ignorance with great hope that I may be able to learn more as new findings and research are done.

The attached photo is from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond. The Museum reopened this year after a major upgrade. History and its museum continue to be made in Virginia.