In 1994 on the banks of the James River near the remains of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, archaeologists with the Jamestown Rediscovery Project under the leadership of Bill Kelso, the author of this volume, began a search for James Fort. The fort, described by John Smith and other Jamestown colonists, was the original home of the new colony, founded by 104 Englishmen in the spring of 1607.
Conventional wisdom by historians and archaeologists alike had the fort long gone, washed into the river. Undaunted, the new research project quickly found archaeological remains that, by 1996, Kelso’s team would be able to confirm as the foundations of the fort. It was one of the most dramatic archaeological discoveries ever made in the United States.
In this engaging volume, Kelso uses both the historical record and the archaeological evidence to flesh out the early history of the new colony. It is an excellent example of historical archaeology that combines the two disciplines to deliver a more accurate account of both the material culture and historical narrative. It includes a chapter describing how the fort was first built and then reduced in size. Later, extensions were built, including fenced gardens.
After 30 years of research, hundreds of thousands of English and Native objects have been recovered from the fort and its surroundings. The archaeological evidence strongly supports the thesis that Native American women played an important role in the colony, despite being largely absent from the historical record. One Native woman we know a lot about, Pocahontas, played an important role in the colony’s development, and Kelso tells her story along with an account of the search for her grave in England, where she died in 1617, aged 22. Sadly, rising sea levels now threaten the fort and other aspects of the origins of Jamestown.
Jamestown Archaeology is an important addition to the story of the first English colony, both from a historical view and for its archaeological descriptions. A well-written narrative with 92 color illustrations, it is also an important addition for any reader interested in the European settlement of the Americas.
