Indian Village - From time to time, an archaeological site exists where highway construction cannot avoid it. Scientific excavation of one such site revealed that over a span of 7,000 years the area was inhabited by people who left a sequence of recognizably different archaeological patterns of hunting, plant collecting, tool manufacture, and living structures.

Three prehistoric periods are recognized for this area, each associated with a suite of particular artifacts and characterized by distinct settlement and subsistence patterns. The earliest period in the sequence is the Early/Early Archaic (pre-3500 BP [before the present]). The second period, the Middle Archaic, dates from 3500 - 1350 BP. The Late Archaic/Terminal Prehistoric Period dates from 1350 BP to contact.

Site deposits that have been undisturbed for thousands of years can be destroyed in a few moments by inconsiderate behavior. Much can be learned from studying an undisturbed, abandoned house, such as the one here. Fragile remains of the wooden poles that held the thatch-covering reveal past construction technology using native materials. Size, shape, and the configuration of items and features on the floor provide clues about past household organization and activities, season of occupation, and length of occupancy, among other things..