Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This installment in a series on the context of the Lumbee people deals with archaeological evidence found in Robeson County.  Studies conducted by Mathis and Gardner at the North Carolina Indian Cultural Center site (1986) and through the Native American Resource Center (1988 and 1992) found prehistoric artifacts that probably originated outside the region-- adjacent to artifacts of the type normally found in the region.  These unusual artifacts began appearing in the county during the archaic period (6,000-8,000 years ago) and continued to appear through the archaeological record. 

These items probably come from Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, the mountains, or the piedmont, suggesting a longstanding pattern of cultural interactions of various tribes in Robeson County.  From this evidence it is reasonable to believe that the core of the tribe which became the Lumbee was joined by remnants of other tribes - probably people from all three North Carolina language families (Eastern Siouan, Algonkian, and Iroquoian).