Editing Pre-Contact Settlements (section)

== Archaeological Evidence ==

Archaeological investigations in Philadelphia and the surrounding region have documented thousands of years of indigenous habitation. The earliest evidence dates to the Paleo-Indian period (approximately 12,000-10,000 years ago), when small bands of hunters pursued megafauna such as mastodons and caribou across a landscape still recovering from glaciation. Stone tools from this period, including distinctive fluted Clovis points, have been found at sites throughout the Delaware Valley, though none have been conclusively identified within Philadelphia's current boundaries. These earliest inhabitants were highly mobile, following game across vast territories and leaving behind scattered traces of their campsites.<ref name="custer">{{cite book |last=Custer |first=Jay F. |title=Delaware Prehistoric Archaeology: An Ecological Approach |year=1984 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |location=Newark, DE}}</ref>

The Archaic period (approximately 10,000-3,000 years ago) saw increasing population density and more varied subsistence strategies as the climate warmed and stabilized. Archaic peoples in the Philadelphia region exploited a wider range of food sources, including fish, shellfish, nuts, and smaller game. Archaeological sites from this period are more numerous and substantial, with some showing evidence of repeated seasonal occupation over centuries. The Abbott Farm site near Trenton, New Jersey, just north of Philadelphia, is one of the most significant Archaic sites in the region, demonstrating intensive occupation of the Delaware River floodplain during this period.<ref name="stewart">{{cite journal |last=Stewart |first=R. Michael |title=The Abbott Farm: A Revised Perspective |journal=Archaeology of Eastern North America |year=1990 |volume=18 |pages=1-78}}</ref>