A comparison of the Haw/Eno/Flat and upper Dan drainages suggests both similarities and differences in community patterns and their evolution through time (see model). Within the Haw, Eno, and Flat drainages, the late prehistoric population density remained low and most settlements comprised clusters of separate households scattered along both the major rivers and their tributaries. Nucleated villages apparently developed only very late, possibly in response to inter-tribal conflict. Both the Wall and Fredricks sites appear to represent site-unit intrusions that may have precipitated hostility or at least competition with the indigenous population.
After direct trading relationships were established between the English and the Eastern Siouans in the mid-seventeenth century, the native population was greatly reduced by disease, forcing the consolidation of tribal remnants into new, multi-ethnic communities. The Eno-Shakori settlement of "Adshusheer" mentioned by John Lawson (Lefler 1967), as well as the Late Saratown phase occupation at the Kluttz site, represent two examples of such communities. In fact, by the late seventeenth century, most of the Haw drainage was entirely depopulated and only a few small villages composed of tribal remnants remained along the Eno and Flat rivers. Of these, only Occaneechi Town appears to have played an active part in the deerskin trade, and it represented a newly established community, positioned along the Trading Path after 1676.
In the upper Dan drainage, where the population density at any point in time was substantially greater, the Late Prehistoric period witnessed steady population growth and the shift from small dispersed settlements to large, compact villages. The development of these fortified communities also may coincide with the establishment of a pattern of inter-tribal conflict that persisted well into the Historic period; however, whether or not warfare was a primary causal factor in settlement change is unknown.
Dramatic population decline within the Sara villages can be traced to the late seventeenth century and the introduction by English traders of European diseases. Although the overall population remained large enough to maintain a few sizable fortified villages, much of the territory formerly occupied was abandoned. The overall Sara population dwindled and previously autonomous villages periodically merged to form new communities, most likely for defensive reasons. In many instances, old villages were abandoned for new ones located less than a half-mile away. As this process continued, village populations became more and more diverse.
By 1710, both drainage areas had been largely abandoned although a very small remnant population may have remained. The former inhabitants of the Haw, Eno, and Flat drainages moved northeast to join other Siouans at Fort Christanna while the Sara moved to the south where they later combined with the last surviving Siouan group--the Catawba.
