Jamestown 2007 News
Archeologists continue to uncover the fort
at Jamestown, which is larger than expected. Archeological
research in June of 2004 discovered 2 copper fragments near the mouth of
Indian Field Creek and the York River. These have been identified
as the same kind of copper that the earliest colonists relied upon to
trade for food.
According to a Daily Press story by Mark St. John Erickson, "the discovery of the
fragments in a trash pit underscores a steep drop in the value of the
material over a short period of time-and the problems that drop caused
for both the native peoples and the increasingly hungry English."
The story quotes Dennis Blanton, former head of the College of William
and Mary's Center for Archaeological Research, which conducted the study
for the Navy: "Some scholars have written that the trade in copper is
what kept the English in the game,"
"But by 1609, as the settlers said, 'Food could not be had for a pound
of copper which before sold for an ounce,' and they had to turn to
other, sometimes aggressive military measures."
The Indian village of Kiskiak was thought to be strategically located
between Jamestown to the west and Chief Powhatan's home village of
Werecomoco to the east-on the opposite bank of the York River. Captains
John Smith and Christopher Newport stayed there overnight during the
winter of 1608.
Accounts from the period suggest that as many as 50 men and their
families lived in the century-year-old settlement, which may have played
a critical role in keeping Powhatan informed about the newcomers'
activities and movements. No other village on the Virginia
Peninsula is thought to have persisted after the English arrived in
1607.
The village was destroyed in 1622 during the colonists' second war with
the Powhatan Indians.
The Daily Press article goes on to quote
archaeologist Carter C. Hudgins, of the Association for the Preservation
of Virginia Antiquities: "It's very
apparent that the Kiskiak samples are smelted European copper.
"Both samples are remarkably similar to those found at the APVA
Preservation Virginia excavations at Jamestown, making the Kiskiak finds
one of only a few substantiated, tangible links between Indian sites and
James Fort."
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Interstate 64 between Richmond and Norfolk
was to be repaved before the 2007 celebration. When the Virginia
General Assembly finally passed a 2004-2005 budged there were no funds
for this project. Visitors will have to settle for older pavement
and pot-hole repairs.
----
William W. Cone has been named chief operating officer for Jamestown
2007 - the foundation in charge of the 2007 celebration of the 400th
anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in North America.
According to the 1/18/2003 edition of the
Virginia Gazette Cone has experience working with major projects
for Coca-Cola, Kodak, General Motors, and the President's Commission for
the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. His job will be to
coordinate educational programs and events connected with the Jamestown
2007 celebration.
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