Between 8,500 and 5,000 years ago, Paleo-Indians responded to warming trends and heavier precipitation, which exposed the continental shelf on which Tidewater Virginia now sits. In forests of oak and pine, Paleo-Indian groups mastered woodlands and refined stone weapons and tools, as shown in the exhibit hand axe. They formed larger “band-level” societies in temporary camps with family units. They moved above the river fall-lines. Bands evolved into tribal groupings. People became “sedentary foragers” setting the stage for woodland Native American tribes and villages.