The People | Historic Jamestowne

Who was living and working at Jamestown after it was founded in May 1607? The first English settlers included about 104 men and boys, from captains and councilors to laborers. From the start, the colony teetered on the edge of collapse; by the end of the summer of 1607, only half of the original colonists survived. Nevertheless, the colony endured even the “starving time” winter of 1609-1610. Human skeletons and millions of archaeological artifacts excavated at Jamestown provide first hand evidence of the everyday lives and behaviors of the men, women, and children who helped the colony survive.