What did most early settlement occur along rivers or other bodies of water?

1. early people settled on the riverside for example the indians in the mississippi..there are also people who settled near the sea, an example of this is the greece. they lived near bodies of water for transportation purposes, to provide their basic needs and to develop their knowledge. 

2. The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County in present-day North Carolina was an enterprise financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 16th century to establish a permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony. Between 1585 and 1587, groups of colonists were left to make the attempt. The final group disappeared after a period of three years elapsed without supplies from England, leading to the continuing mystery known as "The Lost Colony."