Posted on 05/09/2007 5:46:31 PM PDT by blam
Sword, armor found buried inside remains of James Fort
Archaeologists Mary Anna Richardson, left, and Luke Pecoraro carefully begin excavating a potential cache of arms and armor that so far includes a broad sword with a basket hilt and blade, armor that protects the thigh and a rapier hilt, discovered recently at Historic Jamestowne. PHOTO BY MICHAEL LAVIN / APVA PRESERVATION VIRGINIA
By DIANE TENNANT, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 9, 2007 | Last updated 1:49 PM May. 9
JAMESTOWN – A cache of armor from the early 1600s has been discovered by archaeologists excavating a trash pit inside the remains of James Fort.
Queen Elizabeth II viewed the objects during her visit Friday, observing a broadsword with a basket hilt, an iron pole, the hilt from a rapier and armor pieces that would have protected the thigh.
“It may be like the tip of an iceberg,” said William Kelso, director of archaeology for APVA Preservation Virginia, in a press release. “We’ll see as we uncover more of it in the next few days.”
The armor was partly uncovered last week, about 3 feet below what would have been ground level in the early 1600s. The pit itself is 19 feet square. Because the layers slump toward the center, archaeologists think it may have been a well that went bad, and was then used for trash.
Glass trade beads, baubles, chess pieces, iron objects and pottery shards have also been found in the pit. Indian artifacts found there include a grinding stone, a bone needle and shell beads. Animal remains include oysters, sturgeon, crab claws, fish, bird, turtle, deer and goat.
Kelso speculated that it could be the first well dug by colonist John Smith in 1608-09. Archaeologists can date it by the artifacts, which include a coin dated 1613 found near the top, and by the fact that the pit is under the foundation of a building constructed in 1617.
Furthermore, historical accounts mention that military equipment was buried in the fort in June 1610, when the colonists decided to abandon Jamestown after the “Starving Time” winter. The day after they left, they were forced to return by Lord De La Warre, whose supply fleet coming up the James River met the dispirited colonists coming down.
Archaeologists also plan to work on a site this summer that they hope contains remnants of the first church built for the colony.
What an incredible piece of history your cousin has! I'd be afraid of it falling apart.
What an incredible legacy! I’m from Virginia and can assure you that it is a very difficult state in which to do genealogical research because the Yankees burnt our archives in the War Between the States. You are most fortunate. And I’m burning with envy! Jamestown is a very interesting place... I’m delighted to see this flurry of archaeological activity take place there. Also, the English colony was not the first there. A group of Spanish priests settled the area decades before and were slaughtered.
Actually, archaeology finds and further research are challenging that belief. I don't think the final word is in.
Great find! I remember years ago reading that a metal breast plate was found near Jamestown. We lived in Yorktown Va. in ‘59 and ‘60 and I found all kinds of artifacts while digging in a flower bed, pieces of pottery and broken stems of those clay pipes they smoked at the pub. I also found the remains of a flintlock pistol and pieces of cannonballs while climbing around on the steep banks of the York River. It was a fabulous place but I’ll bet it is so changed(built up) now that I would be sad.
Originally they were getting their laborers to do their work, but after Smith issued the "no work, no eat" edict, they magically pitched in.
It is old and fragile, but the decision to stop putting entries into in the 1890s was a decision that now allows holes in the geneological record. There were sufficient blank pages to go another 200 or so years. My great uncle had physical possession until 5 years ago when he died and it passed to his son. They did start a new record book in the 1940s though, by transcribing the original and then adding to it, even in the 50 years from the stop to the new start lost a few branches off the family history. What is really interesting is watching how spelling changes with time. We have lost the long “S” that looked a little like an “f”, and some other changes also.
“Great find! I remember years ago reading that a metal breast plate was found near Jamestown. We lived in Yorktown Va. in ‘59 and ‘60 and I found all kinds of artifacts while digging in a flower bed, pieces of pottery and broken stems of those clay pipes they smoked at the pub. I also found the remains of a flintlock pistol and pieces of cannonballs while climbing around on the steep banks of the York River. It was a fabulous place but I’ll bet it is so changed(built up) now that I would be sad.”
Very cool! can you post a photo?
What legacy? Oh you mean the Puritanical drive to spread to the other colonies, and then states, that they knew best how to run others' lives? Or the honor of celebrating the second Thanksgiving in the New World. Just not sure what you mean by legacy....
Too much religion associated with the MA group for a lot of peoples comfort.
I didn’t find the breast plate, I read about it in the paper and it is probably in a museum now. The flintlock pistol I think I gave to my brother. The pieces of cannonballs are probably around here in a box. In other words no, I can’t, it’s been almost 50 years ago. LOL!
I agree with you.
Each site has its won unique and significant legacy - Plymouth, Jamestown, Roanake. They are the first footsteps which led to the greatest nation that ever existed and to us.
My distant ancestor, Edward Gurganey, came on the Prosperous — First or Second Supply, I think. Don’t know where any Bibles are, however.
Jamestowne boasted the first factory in North America, the first permanent English settlement, the first inter-racial marriage (Pocahontas), the first attempt at Communism as a form of government(quickly abandoned), etc., etc. How can you say that they left no record?
Jamestowne wasa fully functioning commercial enterprise that later became a full fledged Colony — long before the Pilgrims ever left England. Jamestowne pioneers did not “disappear”.
My family can trace its roots to the First Supply. My ancestor came with Lord De La Warre.
Have you ever visited Jamestowne? Not the reconstructed village, but the actual site of the original settlement? I visited there in July one year about 10 years ago. It was so blasted hot and humid and buggy that I do not know how those first settlers survived the first SUMMER. I couldn’t breathe, and I have no idea how they managed to put their gardens in, much less work on them!
Or climbed aboard! The reconstructed ships are SO tiny. There are one, or two, cabins where the “gentlemen” slept in a group, and everyone else just stretched out on the deck. I venture to guess that not anyone on this board could stand to go to sea under these conditions. It’s been a while since I saw those ships, but I think that all three of them could fit inside my house. Well, at least 2 of them...
No wonder I can not find any genealogy stuff on some relatives. It got to be so bad that I told people it was like they came down to earth on a spaceship and decided to stay.
George Washington was Supposed to be over 6’ tall also. If you see his bed in Mount Vernon and his clothes, you begin to have doubts. If he fit into the clothes, they had to have been elastic and if he slept in the bed, a full quarter of him rested on the floor.
Medieval beds are also small, but most illustrations of them show people slept in a reclining position, rather than laying down. I don’t know if that held true in GW’s day.
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