Jamestown Rediscovery (archaeology program)

Jamestown Rediscovery (archaeology program) is an archaeological research initiative based at Historic Jamestowne that conducts systematic excavation, analysis, and public dissemination of material remains from the 1607 English colonial settlement at Jamestown. Founded in 1994, the project is a collaboration among the National Park Service, the Preservation Virginia (Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities), and scholarly partners from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the College of William & Mary, and the British Museum. Its work has reshaped interpretations of early English colonization interactions with Powhatan peoples, transatlantic migration, and early Atlantic World cultural exchanges.

History and Background

The initiative was launched after concerns that ongoing erosion and development threatened archaeological deposits at Jamestown Island. Under direction from archaeologists affiliated with William Kelso, the project undertook targeted trenches and then expansive sieving and stratigraphic excavation across the site associated with the 1607 Virginia Company of London fort. Institutional partners included the National Park Service, Preservation Virginia, the Archaeological Institute of America, and university departments like the College of William & Mary Department of Anthropology. The program has received support from agencies and foundations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution. Leadership changes over time involved figures connected to Historic Jamestowne administration and museum professionals from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

Excavations and Methodology

Fieldwork techniques combine hand excavation, flotation, wet screening, and microscopic analysis, drawing on specialists from the Society for American Archaeology, zooarchaeologists, and paleoethnobotanists. The project emphasizes context through stratigraphy, measured using standards from the Archaeological Institute of America and with artifact cataloging compatible with collections at the Smithsonian Institution and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Conservation of metal, ceramic, and organic remains utilizes laboratories staffed in partnership with the Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) at the College of William & Mary and conservators trained at the National Conservation Training Center. Collaborative studies with scholars from Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Brown University, University of Virginia, and Harvard University have integrated radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, and isotopic analysis to refine chronologies for structures and burials linked to the Anglo-Powhatan Wars and the Starving Time.

Major Discoveries and Artifacts

Notable discoveries include the location and footprint of the 1607 triangular fort, structural postholes interpreted as defensive palisades, privy deposits rich in dietary refuse, and multiple burials including remains attributed to early colonists and individuals of likely European and African origins. Artifacts recovered range from trade beads and gaming pieces to musket parts, cannon shot, pewter, glass beads, a silver James I shilling, and tools tied to tobacco cultivation. A wooden magazine, interpreted as part of early storage infrastructure, yielded preserved timbers that provided dendrochronological sequences linking craftspersons to ship timbers used by the Virginia Company of London. Faunal assemblages analyzed by zooarchaeologists illuminate shifts in subsistence related to interactions with the Powhatan Confederacy and provisioning failures during the Starving Time. Conservation of a rare brass cannon and a rosary has prompted international collaboration with curators from the British Museum and the Museum of the American Revolution.

Interpretation and Historical Impact

Findings from the project have challenged long-standing narratives promoted by early 19th-century and 20th-century historians and museum interpreters, prompting reassessments of survival strategies, indigenous–colonial relations, and the chronology of settlement expansion. Interpretations informed by artifacts, faunal remains, and structural evidence have contributed to scholarship published in journals associated with the American Antiquity, William and Mary Quarterly, and monographs by university presses including the University of Virginia Press. The program’s results have influenced exhibits and curricula at the Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, and have informed reinterpretations of colonial leaders linked to the site such as John Smith, Pocahontas, and figures in the Virginia Company of London records.

Public Outreach, Education, and Exhibits

Jamestown Rediscovery maintains robust public archaeology initiatives including daily on-site interpretation, volunteer excavation programs coordinated with the Archaeological Institute of America, and teacher workshops supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Artifacts and interpretive panels are displayed at the Archaeological Museum at Historic Jamestowne and integrated into programs at the Jamestown Settlement (museum), with traveling exhibits loaned to institutions like the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and university museums. Educational collaborations extend to the College of William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, and K–12 outreach through partnerships with the Virginia Department of Education. The project’s publications, lectures, and digital resources aim to make primary-source archaeology accessible to audiences ranging from specialist scholars to descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy and communities linked to early African American heritage.

Category:Archaeology of the United States Category:Historic Jamestowne