JAMESTOWNBy Tara Ford

From this site archaeologists hope to learn about the first English colony to settle in the new world. The relationship with the local Indians.The obstacles the settlers had to overcome.

I chose this site because I want to do a field study in Jamestown this upcoming summer.I want to learn more in depth at how this colony survived against the odds and began to thrive.

King James I

Jamestown was found and founded in May 24 1607. As time went on Jamestown was abandoned. Around the time of 1837 people started to talk of a submerged fort that could be James Fort.

Artifacts were collected through excavation. Digging trenches were used to find the fort walls.

The good preservation of the artifacts was a result of the lack of oxygen in the soil that they were buried in.

Skull with surgical marks

Survey map 1994

Findings

Artifacts that have been found are items such as: pottery, coins, tools, trade items, and many other items.

One of my favorite discoveries that has been made is that of human remains. A human skull that had been hit with a blunt object in the back of the head. The fascinating part is that the colony conducted a surgery to relieve the pressure of the swelling of the brain by drilling holes into the skull. Unfortunatley the patient did not survive. But there is evidence supporting that after the patients death a autopsy was performed.

My hypothesis about the autopsy performed on this skull is that the colonists were trying to progress and learn how to stay alive and possibly what they might be dying from.

Feature Discoveries

Being that the heavy artillery such as cannons were placed at both points of the triangular fort along the river it suggests that the colony was in fear of more than just a attack of the native Indians. My interpretations of this would be that they

feared a attack from the river from someone like the Spaniards or other imposing threats that might jeopardize their territory.

Life in Jamestown

One of the findings that helped archaeologists gain a view of the colony and how it worked was the diary of John Smith. He spoke of 2 different types of men on the voyage the gentlemen and

the workers. One group really did nothing and had no skill set. The workers had

skilled trades and worked hard but as time went on the colony became lazy and did not want to work.

By analyzing the skeletal remains we can tell that some of the colonists starved to death. Their was a shortage of food (the starving time) and nutrition deficiencies. There is even some evidence suggesting cannibalism took place in those desperate times.

The culture did change as time went on. The colonists started planting corn, the colony expanded along with the fort.

New colonists and supplies were constantly being sent over from England. Without either of these two things the colony wouldn’t have made it.

The Purpose

The main purpose of the Virginia Company was to discover a spices trade route and or gold.

But what they accomplished was much more valuable than either of those……..

A permanent foothold in the New World.

Bibliography

http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=4

www.nbcnews.com http://www.history.org/Foundation/

journal/Winter13/bones.cfm https://disinfo.com/2013/05/remains-unco

vered-of-14-year-old-girl-cannibalized-at-jamestown-colony/

The EndThank You