Virginia's First People: Life During the Paleoindian Era

What was lifelike in Virginia thousands of years before Jamestown—and even before the landscape looked as it does today?

Journey back to 15,000–8,000 B.C. and discover the earliest known Indigenous presence in the land now called Virginia during the closing centuries of the Ice Age.

Virginia's First People brings Paleoindian history to life through archaeology and historical research. Explore ancient landscapes, hunting and gathering, family and community life, seasonal movement, stone-tool technology, Ice Age animals, and archaeological sites such as Cactus Hill.

Learn how archaeologists use artifacts, hearths, stone tools, stratigraphy, and other evidence to understand people who lived here thousands of years before written history.

Written for general readers, history enthusiasts, genealogists, educators, and anyone interested in Virginia's Indigenous past, this accessible ebook carefully distinguishes between what archaeology tells us, what scholars interpret, and what remains unknown. Rather than assigning later tribal identities to ancient peoples, it respectfully explores their lives through the evidence they left behind.

Begin your journey into one of the earliest chapters of Virginia history. Discover a landscape shaped by Indigenous families, knowledge, survival, adaptation, and connection to the land thousands of years before Jamestown.

By Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez, D.Ac., L.Ac.