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Jamestowne well site gushes with new archaeological finds

May 10, 2007 12:35 am

By CLINT SCHEMMER

As organizers finish preparing for America's 400th birthday party this weekend, archaeologists at Historic Jamestowne are busy unearthing what appears to be a weapons cache left by the English colonists inside James Fort.

They showed their earliest finds to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip when they visited Historic Jamestowne on Friday. Since then, they've discovered more arms and armor--as well as personal items--in what may be the settlers' first well, dug by Capt. John Smith.

"It may be like the tip of an iceberg," said Dr. William Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. "We expect that these exciting artifacts may be buried with many other related finds. We'll see as we uncover more of it in the next few days."

At the same time, archaeologists are excavating near a 1607 graveyard in the fort's west corner, close to the James River. Between those 22 graves and another burial that was recently unearthed, they've discovered an undisturbed area, about 15 feet by 20 feet, where a building may have stood. It could be the site of the Englishmen's first church, which they built in the center of the fort.

"It would make sense to find the church near the graveyard," APVA senior archaeologist Danny Schmidt said.

The APVA team will keep searching for the place of worship as they dig toward the triangular fort's center. That work will accelerate quickly after a summer field school begins June 4.

In the fort's north corner, nearest Historic Jamestown's new visitors center, lay a nearly complete broadsword, thigh armor, rapier hilt (sword handle) and iron pole left in a 400-year-old, 19-foot-wide trash pit.

In June 1610, after a terrible drought and a deadly winter the colonists called the "Starving Time"--when dozens perished and some survivors were reduced to cannibalism--the colonists packed up and prepared to abandon the settlement.

They buried unneeded military gear at James Fort before they left to seek passage back home to England aboard fishing ships off the New England coast, according to period accounts.

But as luck would have it, they ran into the fleet of Lord De Law Warre, the colony's governor, at the mouth of the James River the next day--and returned to Jamestown to pick up where they left off.

The archaeologists found the arms and other artifacts about 3 feet below the 17th-century ground level.

"Because of the way the layers of debris are slumping toward the center of the pit, we think this may be a well that went foul and later became a trash pit," Kelso said. "The sides seem to have eroded outward, which may be why the feature is so large. So far, we know it's at least 6 feet deep. We haven't found the bottom or a well shaft yet.

"The pit is below the foundation to a 1617 addition to the [royal] governor's house, and the latest artifact is a 1613 English farthing found near the top. If it is a well, this could be the first well that was dug by John Smith in 1608-1609," he said.

Chock-full of artifacts, the pit has also yielded ivory chess pieces, a Virginia Indian bone needle, a grinding stone, pottery shards, iron objects, Indian shell beads, glass trade beads and copper "jewelry" used to decorate hair and clothing. All date to the early years at James Fort.

Archaeologists have also found oysters, sturgeon scutes, crab claws and the remains of fish, birds, turtles, deer and goats. That faunal material includes more wild than domesticated animals, another sign this is an early pit, Schmidt said.

Looking forward to this weekend's 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, APVA Preservation Virginia launched its Jamestown Rediscovery project in 1994 to search for the remains of the 1607 fort and town site.

Most historians thought the fort has been lost to James River erosion, but the APVA archaeologists shattered that long-held belief in 1996 when they announced they had discovered its site.

Since, they've found the remains of its timber palisades, bulwarks, buildings and wells, the burials of more than 70 colonists, and more than a million objects reflecting life at the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

For interactive images of James Fort, artifacts and maps, visit nationalgeographic.com/ngm/jamestown. historicjamestowne.org americas400thanniversary.org historyisfun.org/Tickets-and-Packages.htm

Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com