Catoctin Creek: A Mason Island Complex site in the Middle Potomac Valley

This study examines the Late Woodland component of the Catoctin Creek site in Loudoun County, Virginia as it fits into the larger archaeological landscape of the Middle Potomac Valley. There were three discrete archaeological complexes known in the region in the Late Woodland Period: the Montgomery Complex, the Mason Island Complex, and the Luray Complex. The Catoctin Creek site is considered a part of the Mason Island Complex, an archaeological classification of culturally similar sites whose inhabitants shared a common tradition in their methods of making pots, burying their dead and settling their villages. A detailed description of the 1970 Potomac River Archaeological Survey (PRAS) excavational findings and artifacts of Catoctin Creek show the veracity of the site as a model of the Mason Island Complex.