Editing Gloucester County, Virginia (section)

=== Prehistoric ===
This area was inhabited for thousands of years by successive cultures of [[hunter-gatherer]] Indian peoples; artifacts have been dated to at least the late [[Woodland Period]] (c. AD 1000).

An important village site known as Werowocomoco was occupied by c. AD 1200 by the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking peoples of the numerous emerging tribes in the area. Before the late 16th century, the [[Powhatan Confederacy]] had been formed. It was made up of an estimated 30 tribes in the coastal region, who spoke distinct but related languages, and was led by a paramount chief, known as the Powhatan. The Powhatan Confederacy was estimated to total 12,000 to 15,000 people across the coastal region of present-day Virginia. Werowocomoco was the stronghold and capital of this confederacy, located on the north side of the York River in what is now Gloucester.

This complex, stratified society had developed in part due to the cultivation and processing by women of varieties of maize, [[beans]] and [[Squash (plant)|squash]]. With these crops, the women produced a surplus that, together with the game and fish collected by the men, supported a dense population in a number of settlements. The people also gathered nuts, berries and other foods of the region.