Statehouse Excavations

Like previous excavators, the Jamestown Rediscovery team delineated a sequence of construction sequences within the complex. Buildings 1 and 2 were constructed simultaneously and before Buildings 3 and 4. They were roofed with flat tiles or slate shingles while 3 and 4 had S-shaped pantiles. All structures had rear additions, yet those of Buildings 3 and 4 were added later—likely when Building 2 was already in ruins. Buildings 3 and 4 originally contained central chimneys that were later moved to their gable ends, supplementing chimneys in these rear additions. This change followed a larger architectural trend within 17th century Virginia that introduced hall-and-parlor plans and subterranean kitchens, and removed cooking and service areas to the back of the house. Porches were also added to Buildings 3 and 4, further delineating private and public areas.

Building 5, the Statehouse itself, differed greatly from its neighbors. It had a front porch tower and a stair tower on the north wall. It had two rooms likely divided by a central passage. Excavators found possible evidence of fences which would align with historical references to enclosed yards, as well as signs of burning from the two fires at the complex: the first during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 and the second in 1698 that would lead to the building’s abandonment.

Alongside the architectural materials, excavators recovered a variety of 17th-century artifacts that added to those found by Yonge and previous teams. Among these objects were English tobacco pipes, Virginian Challis and Morgan Jones pottery, casement window leads, and a 1667 tradesmen’s token from the Globe Tavern in London. Together with hand-wrought nails and several known ceramic and glassware forms, these artifacts add to the evidence that the complex was occupied in the late 17th century.

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