Remains thought to be Jamestown leader, discoverer of Cape Cod
By ADRIENNE SCHWISOW, Associated Press Writer
February 11, 2003 8:56 am
Posted on 02/11/2003 9:05:18 AM PST by Constitution Day
Remains thought to be Jamestown leader, discoverer of Cape Cod
By ADRIENNE SCHWISOW, Associated Press Writer
February 11, 2003 8:56 am
RICHMOND, Va. -- Archaeologists said they may have discovered the skeleton of the man considered the main force behind the first permanent English settlement in America and the discoverer of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.
The grave's placement inside the 17th-century Jamestown fort, the estimated time frame of the grave and the ceremonial artifacts found with the skeleton suggest it belongs to Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, said William Kelso, archaeology director of the Richmond-based Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
"This is just as significant as actually finding the fort," Kelso said. "We're talking about finding one of the Columbus-era type guys."
The association, which began excavating the fort area in 1994, is arranging DNA tests to compare the remains to Gosnold's descendants. Kelso described the skeleton -- buried alone and found about 2 feet into the ground -- as "remarkably" well-preserved.
"We're scratching our heads to figure out why," he said. "Maybe because it was on higher ground."
A native of Suffolk, England, Gosnold pushed the English to send out another group of explorers and settlers after the disappearance of the Roanoke colony, in what is now North Carolina's Outer Banks, sometime around 1587.
In 1602 he led an expedition to the Maine and Massachusetts coasts, where he discovered and named Cape Cod, for the fish found there, and Martha's Vineyard, for his infant daughter.
As commander of the "Godspeed" four years later, he was second-in-command in the three-ship fleet that landed the 107 Virginia Company settlers at Jamestown in May of 1607. He helped design the triangular fort where they lived.
Capt. John Smith, credited with leading and ultimately saving the colony, described Gosnold as "the prime mover behind the settlement."
Gosnold died in August, 1607, after three weeks of illness. About two-thirds of the settlers died that summer.
"Had he lived, he would have been the name associated with Jamestown," Kelso said.
Kelso said that between 1607 and 1610 -- an approximate time frame for the grave -- about four high-ranking settlers died, leading archeologists to several possible identities of the skeleton.
But Kelso said Gosnold was by far the most important, and he suspects that the grave's placement inside the fort, along with artifacts he declined to detail Monday, support a historical narrative that describes the captain's "honorable" burial for his contributions to the settlement.
Links related to this article:
APVA and Jamestown Rediscovery
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I have a really interesting old book (published 1901): The Cradle of the Republic by L.G. Tyler.
I do believe the author says that the entire site of the fort had washed away.
This speculation has now been proven false, hasn't it?
This is exciting.
BTW, I just checked out the APVA site (linked at the bottom of the article).
It's very interesting.
They were left as the ship sailed back to England. When the ship returned, nobody was there.
The word CROATAN was carved in a tree.
That's probably his best accomplishment for us here in Virginia. Had he not found Cape Cod, the forefarthers of those obnoxious leftists may have wound up here. The Kennedys may even have landed here instead of Boston. Perish the thought.
Last summer I read a book called Roanoke : Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony by Lee Miller.
If you can get through the choppy writing, it's worth the time.
Feb 13, 2003
Jamestown find could be skeleton of important man BY ANDREW PETKOFSKY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
 Archaeologist William Kelso thinks this is the skeleton of Bartholomew Gosnold, captain of the Godspeed and organizer of the 1607 Jamestown expedition. (ALEXA WELCH EDLUND) |
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| ONLINE |
| Jamestown Rediscovery: www.apva.org |
JAMESTOWN The 400-year-old skeleton belonged to a man who was small in height but huge in importance.
He was buried in a coffin. His grave contained an iron-tipped staff that may have been a flag pole or a ceremonial spear carried by men of the highest status in the early 1600s.
Dr. William Kelso believes the skeleton, discovered this winter within theJames Fort excavation on Jamestown Island, may well be that of one of early Jamestown's most significant founders, Bartholomew Gosnold.
"If this is Gosnold, then we've found the lost-to-history burial of one of themost influential moving spirits behind English-American colonization, hence modern America, and one of that elite group of daring English mariners of the Age of Exploration," Kelso said yesterday.
Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, said the remains, displayed publicly for the first time yesterday, could be an archaeological find as big as the discovery in 1996 of the original fort's remains.
"Finding the fort was super-significant and this is, I think, equal to that," Kelso said in an interview. "If it turns out to be Gosnold."
Gosnold, a privateer-turned-explorer who discovered and named Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard (after his daughter) in 1602, was an organizer of the expedition that led to Jamestown's founding in May 1607. He also was captain of the Godspeed, one of the three ships that carried the settlers from England.
The reason his name is not as well-known as John Smith or other leaders of the settlement is that Gosnold died after a three-week illness only three months after the settlers landed on Jamestown Island.
But Gosnold's death, along with more than 60 of the original 104 settlers in Jamestown's first year of existence, makes him a link in the chain of explorers who died reaching new frontiers.
"This is a somber discovery demanding us to pause and respectfully remember one of those many who went on before us and who gave up their young lives ultimately in the cause of improving the human condition," Kelso said.
He said the remains will eventually be re-interred, but only after extensive study by Dr. Douglas Owsley, a forensic osteologist at the Smithsonian Institution, and only after the scientists use DNA testing to try and determine whether the skeleton is Gosnold's.
Owsley joined Kelso at yesterday's news conference to discuss the evidence that leads scientists to their great hopes. He said the bones, the best-preserved skeleton discovered so far by the APVA's Jamestown Rediscovery Project, are those of an Englishman, no taller than 5 feet, 4 inches tall, who died in his mid-30s of a cause that did not damage his bones.
Gosnold was 36 when he died.
Kelso said the evidence that the skeleton was buried in a coffin and with a flag or ceremonial weapon called a half-pike shows that he was extremely important. Accounts of Gosnold's burial say he was honorably buried with a salute from the fort's cannons and from small arms. It's the only account of that sort of burial in the records surrounding James Fort, Kelso said.
But there's also a chance the bones may belong to four other important colonists who died in their mid- to late-30s in the settlement's first few years. The archaeologists are working with the Virginia Institution of Forensic Science and Medicine to find descendants of the maternal line of Gosnold's family for testing a type of DNA that is well-preserved in bones.
Owsley said the analysis is part of a larger study, involving more than 70 human remains from Jamestown and additional remains from St. Mary's City in Maryland, that should provide new information about life in the 17th century.
"What we're doing is a systematic analysis of 17th-century skeletons so we can tell the story of these people as it's written in their bones," Owsley said.
Along with discovering the fort that became the first permanent English settlement in America, Kelso and his team have recovered and conserved more than 400,000 artifacts. Discovery of the new skeleton came after archaeologists finished excavating a deep brick well this summer that contained many well-preserved pieces of armor and other artifacts.
The grave actually was under a pit with artifacts dating to the 1630s, Kelso said, which indicates the burial was part of the fort's very early history and had been forgotten a couple of decades later.
The APVA launched its archaeological project in 1994, partly in preparation for a commemoration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary in 2007.
Photo by Mort Fryman /
The Virginian-Pilot.
By DIANE TENNANT, The Virginian-Pilot
© February 13, 2003
Last updated: 1:09 PM
JAMESTOWN -- A well-preserved skeleton in a long-forgotten grave was buried with a ceremonial staff that makes archaeologists believe they have discovered the founder of Jamestown.
The skeleton is in amazingly fine condition, scientists said, but it is the staff that got everyone really excited when it was unearthed.
``My first reaction was, `This is Bartholomew Gosnold! That's a flagstaff!' '' said William Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. ``To find the fort is one thing. To find the man who designed the fort is another.''
Kelso found the fort in 1996, two years after he started excavating on Jamestown Island, dispelling the theory that its remnants had been eroded away by the James River in centuries past. Since then, one amazing discovery after another has shed light on the first permanent English settlement in America.
Gosnold is less well-known than many other figures from 1607 Jamestown: Capt. John Smith, Edward Wingfield, Pocahontas. But Gosnold was the driving force in establishing the settlement, and one of the colony's leaders during its first, difficult year. That his name has been pushed aside in the 21st century is less surprising than the fact that this grave was forgotten within 30 years: A trash pit was built on top of it in the 1630s, and a fence post was driven into the grave even before that, breaking the staff that had been laid on top of the coffin.
Archaeologists said Wednesday that the skeleton may belong to any of five colonists, but they believe it is most likely Gosnold, because of the staff. The skeleton was laid carefully in a gable-lidded coffin. The staff -- 5 feet long with an iron cruciform-shaped finial -- could have held a flag or family crest, or might have been an officer's half-pike or walking stick.
``It's a very significant artifact,'' said Bly Straube, a curator with the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. The English didn't typically bury things with their dead, and finding the staff means that the person was highly regarded in the colony, she said.
``We do know this gentleman Gosnold was treated with great reverence when he died.''
Douglas Owsley, a forensic osteologist with the Smithsonian Institution, said the remains are those of a European male in his mid- to late-30s. He had a compression fracture on one vertebrae, indicating physical labor at some point, and he seemed to suffer from sinus infection, Owsley said.
``Right now, we don't see any physical evidence that he's got any injury that would be responsible for his death,'' Owsley said. ``His bones show no swelling or expression of inflammation. You're dealing with some cause of death that's going to kill him fairly quickly, before the bones have the chance to respond and reflect any changes.''
Gosnold died in August 1607, only months after arriving in Virginia. Two-thirds of the settlers died that summer, and no one is sure why, Kelso said, although one colonist recorded possible causes. ``George Percy sums it up in a paragraph,'' Kelso said. ``Some are illness, some are bad water but, generally speaking, it's mere famine. But, boy, they starved to death very quickly. It's very mysterious.''
Gosnold was born in Suffolk, England, in 1572. Trained as a lawyer, he followed instead the path of an explorer, leading 23 settlers aboard the ship Concord to New England in 1602. He named Cape Cod for the bountiful fish offshore, and Martha's Vineyard in honor of his daughter and the grapes that grew there. He even built a house in the New World, but didn't stay long. The Concord sailed back to England with a cargo of sassafras and white cedar.
In 1605, Gosnold began planning the Jamestown colony, inviting Smith, Wingfield and Christopher Newport to his house for discussions. He obtained an exclusive charter from King James for the Virginia Company to settle in the New World.
``It was Gosnold that brought them together,'' Kelso said. ``John Smith said that, and he rarely gave anyone credit for anything.''
Gosnold captained the Godspeed, one of the three ships that carried settlers to Jamestown. He was appointed a leader of the colony, but didn't live long after its establishment. He died at age 36 after a three-week illness.
Kelso is attempting to locate Gosnold's maternal descendants for DNA studies. Gosnold received mitochondrial DNA from his mother, but he could not have passed it to his children. Instead, researchers will have to track the maternal line: mother, sister, etc. Kelso said he already has some names and phone numbers in hand.
No portraits of Gosnold exist, only pictures of his uncle and second cousin. The excellent condition of the skull makes him a prime candidate for facial reconstruction, Owsley said.
Suppose it's not Gosnold. Who else could it be?
Kelso said there are four choices: The Rev. Robert Hunt, who died in 1608 at 38; Capt. Gabriel Archer, who chronicled Gosnold's trip to New England and who died at 35 during the ``Starving Time'' of 1610; Sir Fernando Wehnman, the fort's master of ordnance, who died at 34, also in 1610; or Ellis Kinistone, who ``starved to death with cold'' at age 37, about a month after Gosnold's passing.
If DNA studies rule out Gosnold, similar studies could be pursued on those men, Kelso said. Skeletal analysis of the man's diet also can determine what part of England he grew up in, further narrowing the field.
Whoever it is, the remains will ultimately be reburied at Jamestown. ``This is a somber discovery,'' Kelso said, ``demanding us to pause and respectfully remember one of those who went on before us.''
But Gosnold, if it is indeed he, deserves to be remembered, Kelso said.
``John Smith has this fancy tomb in London,'' Kelso said. ``Wingfield has a big plaque. Here Gosnold is, stuck out here, and couldn't get home.''
Reach Diane Tennant at 446-2478 or dianet@pilotonline.com
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