Virtual Jamestown: First-Hand Accounts. Search, View Documents sorted by subject or Choose one of the following: "Letter of Luis de Quirós and Juan Baptista de Segura," 1570.
This letter describes the settlement at Ajacàn and requests that Juan de Hinistrosa, the Royal Treasurer of Cuba, send a ship of grain to sustain the settlement. "Letter of Juan Rogel to Francis Borgia," 1572. Teacher's Guides and Analysis Tool - For Teachers. Scientific American Frontiers . Unearthing Secret America . What Happened at Jamestown? In the middle of Virginia's James River lies Jamestown Island, the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America.
The colonists aimed to farm and to trade copper jewelry for corn from the local Indians, yet they suffered crippling death rates. Were they hapless farmers? Beset by disease? Attacked by Indians? At war with themslves? Archeologist Bill Kelso uncovered the outlines of the original fort the colonists built soon after they arrived in 1607. Meanwhile, climatologist David Stahle turns to thousand-year-old cypress trees to figure out why the settlers starved in a region that would later flourish agriculturally. Jamestown - Primary Source Set - For Teachers. Artifacts found in Jamestown well - Technology & science - Science. RICHMOND, Va. — Sometime around 1610, archaeologists figure a thirsty colonist sat his brass pistol on the side of a well as he pulled up some water and accidentally knocked the weapon in.
It's conjecture, but it's one explanation for a cache of rare finds they fished up Tuesday from the bottom of a 400-year-old well at an overlooked corner of Historic Jamestown, a national park. The items included the Scottish pistol, a man's leather shoe and a small lead plaque reading "James Towne" — the equivalent of a colonial luggage tag. Artifacts drawn from Jamestown well - Technology & science - Science. JAMESTOWN, Va. — Artifacts found in the remains of a 17th-century well, including farm tools and a pewter flagon, provide glimpses into the early life of the pioneering Jamestown settlement and its struggles for survival, archaeologists said Monday.
The well, built as early as 1617, is likely the oldest of two dozen wells discovered at the first permanent English settlement in North America, now part of the Historic Jamestowne preserve. Since it was found in the summer of 2002 it has yielded a treasure trove of artifacts ranging from armor plates to drinking vessels likely dropped by accident, the archaeologists said. Jamestown Colony Well Yields Clues to Chesapeake's Health. June 30, 2006 A 17th-century well discovered last year in Jamestown, Virginia, could reveal rich details about the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago, say archaeologists who are excavating the site.
The well may have been dug under the orders of Captain John Smith, whose disciplined leadership helped establish Jamestown as England's first permanent colony in the New World (related video: "The Real Jamestown, Beyond The New World"). "We are going under the idea that it is quite possibly John Smith's well," said Jamie May, an archaeologist with the nonprofit APVA Preservation Virginia. The well is on the banks of the James River, near where the river flows into the Chesapeake (printable map of the Chesapeake Bay). The site is a treasure trove of artifacts and "a window back into time," said APVA archaeologist Danny Schmidt. Oysters and Salt Many of the artifacts were underwater for four centuries. 400-Year-Old Jamestown Well Preserves Environmental Data and Rare Objects.
400-Year-Old Jamestown Well Preserves Environmental Data and Rare Objects JAMESTOWN, Va. – Historic Jamestowne archaeologists have discovered a virtual time capsule of environmental and cultural data sealed inside an enormous well that may have been built by Capt.
John Smith nearly 400 years ago, according to Dr. William Kelso, director of archaeology for the APVA Preservation Virginia. Kelso said plants, wild and domestic seeds, pollen, parasites, insects, and food remains survive in wells below the water-table because of the oxygen-deprived atmosphere. "There is no other source for this kind of environmental data in such a preserved state, so precisely documented in time. He noted that the watery environment also can preserve paper, leather, pewter, wood, fabric and other materials that decay more quickly in dry environments.
Archaeologists recently unearthed a child's leather shoe, surgical tools, nuts, seeds -– including a tobacco seed, buttons, and untarnished copper. Jamestown - Interactive.