c. 1,500 B.C. Oysters became an important food resource.

c. 1,000 B.C. Native-American introduction of pottery.

c. 800 A.D. Native-American introduction of domesticated plants; bow and arrow came into use.

c. 1200. Permanent Native-American villages established.

1498. John Cabot sailed along Eastern Shore off present-day Worcester County.

1524. Giovanni da Verrazano passed mouth of Chesapeake Bay.

1572. Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish governor of Florida, explored Chesapeake Bay.