Jacksonville’s past includes a deep Indigenous history. Beginning more than 10,000 years ago, small family bands occasionally moved through the area. By 5000 years ago, Native populations started living permanently near the Atlantic coast. Contrary to the myth of an unchanging Native American past, migrations, contact with outsiders, long distance interactions, and technological innovations shaped the precontact history of Northeast Florida. Drawing on archaeological and historical evidence, the story presented here begins 1000 years ago and continues to the present day.
