White Quartz Arrowhead

Additional Pendants Originating from this Region

Queen Anne's Lace

Native Beetle

The origin of this white quartz arrowhead is Catoctin Mountain in Frederick County, Maryland. The deciduous forests of Catoctin are representative of the rich and productive temperate ecosystems which extend across the Appalachian mountains, piedmont and coastal plains of Eastern North America. Prior to European colonization this bioregion was almost entirely forested, but today retains less than 50% of its original forest cover, much of the land having been converted to agriculture, urban and an ever growing suburban growth.

Extending for fifty miles from Leesburg, Virginia to Emmitsburg, Maryland, Catoctin Mountain has an ancient and complex geologic history dating back to the beginnings of the Appalachian Mountains. Today Catoctin marks the easternmost boundary of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Maryland and Northern Virginia. The word "Catoctin" is thought to originate with the native American Algonquian people who once hunted in the area, and means "the place of many deer," the "old hill," and "speckled mountain." These descriptions still apply today and the arrowhead is an appropriate symbol that reminds us of the areas precolonial history and of native inhabitant's connection to the land.

Thanks in part to its rugged terrain, Catoctin Monuntain today contains some of the best preserved open space in Central Maryland. Catoctin Mountain National Park, Cunningham Falls and Gambrill State Parks, and the Frederick City Watershed and Wildlife Management Areas include over 20, 000 acres and contribute to protecting the mountain 's diverse wildlife, human history, and it's recreational and scenic qualities. However, as the human population in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan areas continues to grow, so does the pressure to subdivide and develop lands on and near Catoctin. New residential development continues to alter the area’s historic and rural qualities, and to impact rare local flora and fauna through habitat fragmentation and loss. The Catoctin Land Trust (www.catoctinlandtrust.org) is a local conservation organization that promotes preservation of the areas natural diversity and wildlife, forest, agricultural and water resources, and unique historical sites. Community Commons is another Frederick-based organization dedicated to conserving the area's natural resources - To learn more about their community focused educational activities, visit their web site: www.communitycommons.org

CASE STUDY- FOREST ECOLOGY

An important tree species in the native forests of Catoctin Mountain was the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata . The fast growing wood of this once mighty tree was attractive, durable, and very rot resistant, making it valuable for a variety of uses ranging from fence posts and roof shingles to fine furniture. Mature trees produced an abundance of nuts in the Autumn which were important food for people, livestock and wildlife. Once the dominant tree species in the rocky ridgetop soils throughout Appalachia, American chestnut's ecological role is now radically diminished because of the accidental introduction of a disease called the chestnut blight in the early 1900's. From it's point of introduction in New York, the blight spread quickly and over the course of a few decades had killed almost all of the trees found in this species’ native range. Castanea dentata survives today in less abundance as small understory trees and occasional larger individuals that have not yet succumbed the blight.

This disaster is an example of the unfortunate consequences that sometimes result from human activities. Despite this tragic example of ecological disturbance, there is hope fot the future of American chestnut. The American Chestnut Foundation (http://acf.org/) and the American Chestnut Cooperators (www.ppws.vt.edu/griffin/accf.html) are two organizations which are working to restore Castanea dentata to it's original importance in the native forests of Eastern North America. To learn more about Maryland's Regional Adaptability Study of the American Chestnut Foundation and its orchard of over 350 chestnut trees, check out the Thorpewood web site (www.thorpewood.org).

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