First Nations: The Manahoac Populate the Blue Ridge

Archaeologists, farmers, and metal detectors have found evidence of Native Americans in the Culpeper region, and there are still descendants of the Manahoac people here in Virginia.  This confederation of tribes stayed in the Piedmont where they hunted, fished, and created tight-knit communities near Culpeper. Before the age of European settlement, the Manahoacs had left the area to follow the herds of bison west over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Museum has wonderful examples of their stone tools, weapons and projectile points, and even a lovely chain ornamentation made from deer bone.