Martin's Hundred Archaeological Project

Martin's Hundred Archaeological Project
Name	Martin's Hundred Archaeological Project
Location	Jamestown, Virginia region; James River (Virginia); Charles City County, Virginia
Coordinates	37.318°N 77.195°W
Period	Early 17th century; Virginia Company of London colony period
Archaeologists	Ivor Noël Hume, Donald L. Hardesty, James Deetz, Wesley B. Craven
Institutions	Jamestown Rediscovery, Smithsonian Institution, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, College of William & Mary
Start date	1978
End date	1983

Martin's Hundred Archaeological Project The Martin's Hundred Archaeological Project was a multi-institutional excavation and research initiative focused on a 17th-century plantation and fortification associated with the Virginia Company of London settlement efforts along the James River (Virginia). Organized in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the project brought together scholars from Jamestown Rediscovery, College of William & Mary, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to investigate material culture, settlement patterns, and Anglo‑Native interactions in the Chesapeake region during the early Stuart era. The work connected primary documentary sources such as the Journals of the House of Burgesses and the Records of the Virginia Company with stratigraphic excavation and laboratory analysis.

Background and Historical Context

Martin's Hundred derived its name from an investment syndicate chartered by the Virginia Company of London and associated with land patents granted under the Charter of the Virginia Company. Settlers tied to the enterprise settled near the James River (Virginia) opposite Bacon's Castle and within sight of Jamestown, Virginia, during a period marked by events including the Indian Massacre of 1622 and the rise of tobacco monoculture championed by figures like John Rolfe. The plantation landscape was shaped by legal frameworks such as the Headright system and by transatlantic connections involving merchants in London, England, planters in Chesapeake Bay, and the administrative apparatus of the House of Burgesses. Prominent contemporaries found in associated records include Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Yeardley, and Captain John Smith.

Discovery and Excavation Campaigns

Initial discovery of the industrial and domestic loci attributed to Martin's Hundred followed land development and documentary reconnaissance linked to the Jamestown Rediscovery program. Excavations commenced in 1978 under direction from archaeologists connected to College of William & Mary and consultants formerly of the Smithsonian Institution. Campaigns employed gridded trenching strategies later coordinated with field schools run by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and volunteers affiliated with Historic Jamestowne. Major seasons uncovered palisade lines, cellar features, hearths, and refuse deposits; the chronology was constrained by dendrochronology comparisons to samples in the Smithsonian Institution collections and by typological correlation with assemblages from Henricus and Accomack County, Virginia sites.

Archaeological Methods and Findings

Excavation methods combined stratigraphic excavation, flotation for botanical remains, and systematic screening modeled after protocols used at Jamestown Rediscovery and by practitioners like Ivor Noël Hume. Specialists conducted zooarchaeological analysis referencing comparative collections at the Smithsonian Institution, and archaeobotanical sampling informed interpretations of early colonial diet and crop choices paralleling findings from Bermuda Hundred and Flowerdew Hundred Plantation. Structural remains included post‑mold arrays and refurbishment episodes consistent with adaptive responses to the Indian Massacre of 1622 and subsequent security concerns documented in Virginia Company correspondence. Geoarchaeological sediment analyses linked refuse layers to high‑energy events and to anthropogenic landscape modification paralleling accounts in the Records of the Virginia Company of London.

Artifact Analysis and Interpretation

Artifact assemblages featured ceramics—English coarsewares and imported redwares—comparable to material from Jamestown, Virginia and imported ceramics catalogued in the British Museum collections; glass bottle fragments and trade beads reflected Atlantic exchange networks involving London, England merchants. Metal artifacts included nails, gunflints, and navigational instruments similar to artifacts associated with Captain John Smith expeditions. Tobacco pipe typologies were cross‑referenced with published sequences by S. L. Harris and others to refine dating. Faunal remains showed a mix of domesticated Bos taurus and wild species including white-tailed deer, aligning with provisioning patterns noted in the Journals of the House of Burgesses. Botanical remains—charred maize, hemp, and European cereal remnants—provided evidence for crop diversification and for transatlantic diet adaptation described in accounts by John Rolfe.

Site Conservation and Public Outreach

Conservation of recovered artifacts employed curatorial standards guided by the Smithsonian Institution and the Conservation Center of Colonial Williamsburg. Stabilized collections were accessioned into repositories at the College of William & Mary and exhibited at Historic Jamestowne and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum-affiliated venues. Public outreach included collaboration with the National Park Service, guided tours modeled on Jamestown Rediscovery programs, and educational initiatives featuring field schools and public lectures in partnership with the American Institute of Archaeology and regional historical societies. Interpretive efforts emphasized links to primary sources including the Records of the Virginia Company and sought to contextualize Martin's Hundred within the broader early colonial narrative of Chesapeake Bay settlement.

Scholarly Impact and Controversies

The project significantly influenced interpretations of early 17th‑century colonial lifeways, contributing data to debates involving scholars such as James Deetz and Ivor Noël Hume about material culture and colonial adaptation. Its integration of documentary and material evidence shaped subsequent work at Jamestown Rediscovery and informed conservation approaches at Historic Jamestowne. Controversies emerged over site attribution, the extent of continuity between seventeenth‑century features and later occupation phases, and ethical questions about landowner access and descendant community consultation similar to debates at Powhatan-related sites. Published syntheses spurred further excavations by institutions including the Smithsonian Institution and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, ensuring the project's legacy in Chesapeake archaeology and Atlantic colonial studies.

Category:Archaeological projects in the United States