Jamestown Rediscovery

Jamestown Rediscovery
Name	Jamestown Rediscovery
Caption	Archaeological excavation at James Fort, Jamestown (2007)
Location	Historic Jamestowne
Coordinates	37°12′34″N 76°46′54″W
Built	1607
Discovered	1994
Archaeologists	William Kelso, Dawn Prince-Hughes, Jane Kelso
Management	Preservation Virginia, National Park Service
Website	Historic Jamestowne

Jamestown Rediscovery is an archaeological project centered on the 1607 James Fort site within Historic Jamestowne on Jamestown Island. Initiated in the 1990s, the project combined field excavation, archival research, and conservation to locate the original fort, contextualize early Virginia Company colonial settlement, and reassess narratives about interactions among English colonists, the Powhatan Confederacy, and transatlantic networks. The work has reshaped scholarship on early English colonization of the Americas, Captain John Smith, and the material lifeways of seventeenth-century Chesapeake Bay societies.

History of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project

The project began after a 1994 field season led by William Kelso under the auspices of Preservation Virginia and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, responding to longstanding debates about the location of James Fort and the fate of the 1607 settlers. Early stages involved coordination with the National Park Service, collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, and consultation with descendant communities from the Powhatan Confederacy and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe. Subsequent seasons, influenced by scholarship from historians of English colonization of the Americas and archaeologists trained at institutions such as University of Virginia and College of William & Mary, produced stratigraphic control, photogrammetry archives, and integration with archival sources from the Virginia Company of London records and the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial.

The project’s governance adapted through memoranda with Colonial National Historical Park and negotiated public access via Historic Jamestowne. Funding and stewardship involved grants and partnerships with the National Endowment for the Humanities, state agencies like the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and private benefactors, while interpretive work aligned with museum professionals from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

Archaeological Methods and Findings

Excavations applied principles from field archaeology practiced at institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and techniques advanced by practitioners associated with Council for British Archaeology methods adapted to the Chesapeake context. Investigators used stratigraphic excavation, soil micromorphology, flotation, and geophysical survey including ground-penetrating radar influenced by methodological literature from Society for Historical Archaeology. Conservation units documented features such as palisade postholes, bastions, and cellars, producing a robust site formation model that revised earlier assumptions derived from John Smith (explorer)’s accounts and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold’s voyages.

Key findings confirmed the fort’s footprint through discovery of timber-laced revetments, a cruciform bastion plan consistent with early seventeenth-century English fortification practice, and filled defensive ditches containing occupation layers linked to periods recorded in the Virginia Company correspondence and the Starving Time (1609–1610). Archaeobotanical and macroartifact assemblages corroborated documentary lists of provisions and trade goods from transatlantic supply missions such as those commanded by Sir Thomas Gates and George Percy (governor).

Human Remains and Bioarchaeological Analyses

Excavations recovered commingled and articulated human remains associated with burial contexts dated to the early seventeenth century, prompting bioarchaeological study by specialists from the Smithsonian Institution and university osteology labs. Analyses employed stable isotope analysis, paleopathology, radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA techniques paralleling work at sites like Fort Ross and Fort Michilimackinac to reconstruct diet, mobility, and health profiles of colonists and associated Indigenous individuals.

Findings documented trauma patterns consistent with interpersonal violence and de-emphasized earlier sensationalist claims by contextualizing skeletal lesions within famine-related stressors such as the Starving Time (1609–1610), scurvy indicators, and peri-mortem periosteal reactions. Isotope data contributed to debates over origins and childhood diets of individuals linked to crews recruited from ports such as London, Bristol, and Southampton, and informed discussions about cultural contact between English settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy.

Artifacts and Material Culture

The artifact assemblage includes archaeological materials tied to daily life, trade, and governance: ceramic ceramics ranging from coarse wares to imported Delftware, glass trade beads from Atlantic exchange networks, iron implements, weaponry such as matchlocks and fragments of shot, and personal items like religious tokens that evoke connections to Church of England practices. Material studies incorporating metallurgical analysis and ceramic petrology paralleled comparative collections from Plymouth Colony and New Netherland sites.

Notable recovered objects—rosette buttons, copper alloy trading items, and imported majolica—have been used to refine chronologies and trade linkages with European suppliers in ports like Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Seville. Conservation labs employed desalination, consolidation, and X‑ray radiography protocols commonly used in Smithsonian Institution conservation labs to stabilize fragile organics and metals.

Interpretation and Impact on Colonial History

Results from the project have influenced historiography on English colonization of the Americas, challenging mythic narratives derived from early promotional literature and re-evaluating figures such as John Smith (explorer) within a broader material and documentary matrix. By integrating artifact assemblages, osteological data, and archival records from the Virginia Company of London, researchers have re-examined policies of supply, labor regimes, and Indigenous diplomacy involving leaders like Chief Powhatan and Pocahontas.

The project’s synthesis has informed academic monographs, journal articles in outlets like the William and Mary Quarterly, and dissertations at universities including College of William & Mary and University of Virginia, contributing to reinterpretations of seventeenth-century Atlantic networks, maritime provisioning, and the colonial experience of survival, adaptation, and intercultural exchange.

Public Outreach, Education, and Museum Exhibits

Excavation results have been translated into public programming at Historic Jamestowne and the Jamestown Settlement, where exhibit designers from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and curators from Preservation Virginia present artifacts, reconstructions of the James Fort palisade, and educational curricula for K–12 audiences aligned with Virginia state history standards. The project collaborated with media partners to produce documentary segments featured by the Smithsonian Channel and educational modules used by museums such as the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Tours, site tours, and digital archives, including 3D models created in partnership with university digital humanities centers, have broadened access while interpretive staff coordinate consultations with descendant Pamunkey Indian Tribe representatives and tribal historians to ensure culturally informed narratives. The initiative continues to shape public understanding through publications, lectures at venues like the National Geographic Society, and rotating exhibits displayed in regional museums.

Category:Archaeology of the United States Category:Historic Jamestowne