Werowocomoco, on the York River in Virginia near Purtan Bay, was the headquarters of Wahunsenacawh, or Chief Powhatan, in the early 1600s and one of the most important Native political centers in early Virginia. Archaeology shows a large community occupied from the 13th century into the early 17th, with major earthworks, agriculture, and artifacts ranging from Native pottery and stone tools to English trade goods. It stood at the center of early encounters between Powhatan and the Jamestown colonists, including John Smith’s 1607 meeting with Powhatan and later negotiations during the colony’s food crisis, before Powhatan moved his headquarters elsewhere by early 1609.

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Bruton, Virginia · USA