2026

In 2026, archaeologists are digging in three key areas across Jamestown Island: in and around James Fort; on Statehouse Ridge near the Archaearium Museum; and just north of Civil War Fort Pocahontas. These projects represent a mix of research-, community-, and construction-driven projects.

The work in and around James Fort is filling in spaces that were not excavated in years past. These include areas around the 1608 extension of James Fort, the churchyard north of the Memorial Church, the center of James Fort between the ca. 1680 Church Tower and the ca. 1608 Kitchen Cellar, and at the east bulwark of the fortification. Each of these areas has the potential to enhance our understanding of Jamestown’s 17th-century history, hopefully uncovering new buildings or aspects of existing landscapes. Although the James Fort work promises exciting new research, the impetus is to clear space for a new pathway to be built across the property. This new concrete path will provide a stable, safe way for visitors to explore Jamestown, and replace the existing loose gravel routes.

The pathway will eventually reach from near the Tercentennial Monument all the way to the Archaearium Museum. The space near the Museum is presently being studied using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to make sure that the new path will not harm buried archaeological features. The next step is to ground-truth the GPR finds — that is, to uncover any features that may be present and confirm the GPR analysis. Since Jamestown’s Statehouse and the adjacent late 17th-century buildings have not been examined since the early 2000s, the ground-truthing offers a great opportunity to learn more about the space.

Finally, Jamestown Rediscovery launched the “Jamestown 1862” project last year. Funded by a Virginia Department of Historic Resources BIPOC grant, this project aims to find the site where “Contrabands” — or African American men and women seeking freedom behind Union lines during the Civil War — lived in 1862. Contemporary references point to the space just north of Fort Pocahontas as the location of the barracks where the Contrabands lived. Excavations here build on work done in 2023 and 2025, and involve simultaneous historical research into the names and histories of the African American men and women — Contrabands, freedmen, and freedom seekers — who lived on Jamestown Island.