Dig Updates 2013

December 2013

After the Powhatan Indians found a way to wound English soldiers who wore the latest solid metal breastplates, the English turned to old technology to fend […]

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November 2013

 The headstone fragment doesn’t even have a woman’s name on it, but it may belong to a woman who was well-connected to important 18th century […]

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October 2013

 The appearance of a second deep “foundation” posthole near the James Fort extension has raised questions about the look of the fort before or just […]

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September 2013

 This summer, archaeologists at Historic Jamestowne found 10 dark planting furrows extending eastward from the original 1607 James Fort and dating to the first months […]

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August 2013

 About 5,000 bricks made by craftsmen at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation are going into Historic Jamestowne’s 17th-century church tower to stabilize the 300-year-old structure. Historic […]

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July 2013

 Excavations in the north churchyard of the 1907 Memorial Church have found an unusual burial near the human graves: a complete horse. At the end […]

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June 2013

 Finding the scattered remains of the 14-year-old English girl we now call “Jane” did not seem unusual at first when they appeared in the L-shaped […]

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May 2013

 The Smithsonian Institution, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and Preservation Virginia have confirmed the first scientifically-proven occurrence of survival cannibalism in Colonial America. The collaboration was […]

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April 2013

 As winter clung to eastern Virginia, the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeologists returned to the field in the first week of April and brought spring with them. […]

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Slate tablet lying in situ next to trowel

March 2013

 An English expert on slates visited Historic Jamestowne in March to get a closer look at the tablet on display at the Archaearium. “It’s truly […]

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Silver teething stick with coral end

February 2013

Bly Straube, senior archaeological curator for the Jamestown Rediscovery project, is preparing a combination whistle and teething stick for exhibit this spring. She says the object […]

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January 2013

 In the wintertime, with fieldwork temporarily at a halt, conservation efforts in the laboratory are aided by the addition of staff archaeologist Don Warmke who […]

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