As was typical of Chesapeake Indians, the Yaocomaco people chose a high, well drained piece of land for their village. Located on superior agricultural soils, it offered abundant fresh water springs, and was surrounded by estuarine waters rich in oysters, crabs and fish. A short distance up the St. Mary’s River, freshwater marshes provided other foods, as did the surrounding forests. The Yaocomaco people were the last native occupants of St. Mary’s City but archaeology reveals that it had attracted American Indians as a settlement site for 9000 years.