Arrival in the Wide Land

Following the heavy rains of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, the earthen dam impounding Lake Powell near Williamsburg, Virginia, failed and collapsed in several places. With the dam breached, Mill Creek flowed once again to the James, as it had before the colonial era. In addition to creating transportation problems for local residents, the draining of the artificial lake exposed two American Indian sites.¹ Where most archaeological investigations in the area open only a small window onto a modest portion of a site, Hurricane Floyd laid bare two entire settlements dating to the Middle Woodland period (500 BC–AD 900).