Life of a Forest (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

Life of a Forest
Alexandria Heritage Trail

What is Succession?
The forest in this area of the Park is changing from primarily an evergreen (conifer) forest of white pine trees to a younger oak and hickory (deciduous) forest. The white pine forest began about 80 years ago when an area of the existing deciduous forest was burned or cut, allowing conifer seedlings to take hold. As these seedlings grew, their needle-laden branches prevented lifegiving sunlight from reaching the forest floor, inhibiting the growth of broadleaf competitors. Over time, the conifer forest aged, becoming susceptible to diseases and windfalls.

A new forest of oak, hickory, maple, and beech trees is reemerging. As the dominant tree species change, so too will the community of associated flora and wildlife. This ongoing process is known as succession.

Native Americans and Forest Resources
Using resources found along woodland streams, Native Americans gathered and consumed additional resources in forest habitats. By 3000 years ago, people living in Virginia began to change from a mobile, hunting and gathering society to a more settled way of life. Archaeologists call this last epoch of Native American prehistory, the Woodland Period (1000 B.C. to the 1600s).

Pottery, made from local clay found in creek banks, appeared for the first time in the beginning of the Woodland Period. Later, Woodland Indians cleared forests for farming maize, beans and squash. A more continuous food supply led to permanent, year-long settlements. Forest materials were used to build longhouses, which looked like garden arbors to English colonists and were covered with woven mats and bark. Wood was used to build fires for cooking, firing pottery, hollowing logs for canoes and religious feasts.

The cleared forests created new habitats for fruit-bearing trees and low-lying berry shrubs, which attracts more animals. The bow and arrow replaced the older spear-type tool, allowing Woodland Indians to hunt game more efficiently in a forest setting.

Look for these plants along the trail...
During the Civil War, soldiers calmed upset stomachs with a tea of blackberry, sweetgum, and willow bark. they used pokeweed to cure scurvy, and the pokeweed root put a halt to itches.

In the past, dyes were made from pokeweed berries. Mulberry wine was a popular drink, and allspice flavored baked goods.

Today, teas are brewed from sassafras root and rosehips.

Erected by City of Alexandria, Virginia.

[Captions:]
Theodor De Bry's 16th century engraving depicts how Native Americans burned tree trunks with fires fueled by dried moss and wood chips in order to gather logs for building canoes.
Dover Publication, Inc.

This pottery sherd excavated at Shuter's Hill is one of the few which survived from the Woodland Period in Alexandria.
Illustration by Andrew Flora.
Alexandria Archaeology

This 16th century engraving documents the manner in which food was cooked in clay pots.
Dover Publication, Inc.