Choptank

Indians

Choptank Indians

The Delmarva Peninsula was occupied by Native Americans an estimated 15,000 years before the European discovery.  The recorded story of the Choptank Indians begins in 1669 with and Act of the Maryland General Assembly..

The last settlement occupied by the Choptank Indians was Locust Neck. 

 In 1985, Thomas E. Davidson, Richard Hughes, and Joseph M. McNamara carried out surface survey and aerial photographic studies at the Locust Neck site.  They radio carbon dated the items that they found.  The earliest item was lead shot dated to 165 A.D.  Excavations by the Archaeological Society of Maryland and the Maryland Geological Society Division of Archaeology at the Locust Neck site (McNamara 1985) revealed a series of oyster shell filled pits.  The pits artifacts included Townsend ceramics, triangular projectile points, clay pipes, European kaolin pipes, glazed earthenware, lead shot, glazed brick fragments, and gunflints.  Radiocarbon dates from the features ranged from A.D. 300 to 1530. 

lead shot and kaolin pipe fragments

Prehistoric cultures of the Delmarva Peninsula: an archaeological study  By Jay F. Custer

 

Deeds & Acts mentioning Choptank Indians

Plats

Maps showing Choptank Indians

Choptank Indian Language

Wynicaco - A Choptank Indian Chief

Archives of Maryland, Volume 27  By Maryland Historical Society, Maryland State Archives