todd.jackson@roanoke.com 981-3253

More evidence of the region's history is being uncovered along the Roanoke River.

A team of about a dozen people working for a national company has uncovered an American Indian settlement in Southeast Roanoke that dates back to about 1200.

Artifacts unearthed include pieces of pottery, 1,000-year-old animal bones, and spear tips made of quartz. The team has also identified a sizable cooking area about 10 feet underground that it plans to explore further in coming weeks.

The dig is the latest of several that have taken place over the past several decades along the river in Southeast Roanoke.

Bill Stanyard, the senior archaeologist on the dig, said the site is relatively rare for the Mid-Atlantic region of the country because of its condition.

About 1200, a group of American Indians lived along the river. Stanyard said a series of floods apparently occurred and, while they may have forced the group to leave, they also covered up the remnants of their way of life and kept them from becoming mixed with other artifacts from later inhabitants of the same land.

"It's an instant glimpse of one group of people that lived here," he said.

Stanyard said the dating of the settlement was determined through carbon analysis of material found on the site. The pottery artifacts were also a clue. The American Indians tapped the clay pottery with cord-covered paddles before it dried. The tapping made small ridges so the pottery could be gripped more easily.

"You expect to find that type of pottery at that date," he said.

Stanyard's team, which works for TRC Cos., plans to continue excavating the 8,000-square-foot site for the next several weeks. It may also explore another nearby site on the other side of the river.

Stanyard said there could be major surprises ahead and his team is conducting its work to make sure it doesn't destroy significant findings before they can be dug up. For instance, Stanyard said the group's backhoe operator can clear just a couple of inches of soil at a time from the top of the site, like crumbs being swept off a kitchen table. The group has also refilled several test pits to ensure the stability of the site.

TRC is handling the digs under a contract issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. The archaeological work was required as part of a planned flood reduction project along the river's 10-mile stretch through the city.

More than a year ago, a pile of old charred rocks was found along the river, and that signaled the need to do the more extensive archaeological dig under way now, Stanyard said.

When the dig is complete, the settlement will be mapped as it was found, and the artifacts cataloged and put away for safekeeping, possibly to be displayed in some form at a later date.

The site will then be wiped out when the river channel is widened for flood reduction.