What was life really like for the band of adventurers who first set foot on the banks of the James River in 1607? Important as the accomplishments of these men and women were, the written records pertaining to them are scarce, ambiguous, and often conflicting, and those curious about the birthplace of the United States are left to turn to dramatic and often highly fictionalized reports. In Jamestown, the Buried Truth, William Kelso takes us literally to the soil where the Jamestown colony began, unearthing the James Fort and its contents to reveal fascinating evidence of the lives and deaths of the first settlers, of their endeavors and struggles, and of their relationships with the Virginia Indians. He offers up a lively but fact-based account, framed around a narrative of the archaeological team's exciting discoveries.
Once thought to have been washed away by the James River, James Fort still retains much of its structure, including palisade walls, bulwarks, interior buildings, a well, a warehouse, and several pits, and more than 500,000 objects have been cataloged, half dating to the time of Queen Elizabeth and King James. Artifacts especially reflective of life at James Fort include an ivory compass, Cabasset helmets and breastplates, glass and copper beads and ornaments, ceramics, tools, religious icons, a pewter flagon, and personal items. Dr. Kelso and his team of archaeologists have discovered the lost burial of one of Jamestown's early leaders, presumed to be Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, and the remains of several other early settlers, including a young man who died of a musket ball wound. In addition, they've uncovered and analyzed the remains of the foundations of Jamestown's massive capitol building. Refuting the now decades-old stereotype that attributed the high mortality rate of the Jamestown settlers to their laziness and ineptitude, Jamestown, the Buried Truth produces a vivid picture of the settlement that is far more complex, incorporating the most recent archaeology to give Jamestown its rightful place in history and thus contributing to a broader understanding of the transatlantic world.
William M. Kelso is Head Archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.
Rick Adamson (narrator) has narrated dozens of audiobooks for major companies.
REVIEWS:
“In what is certainly one of the more substantial of the many commemorative tomes that will be published as Jamestown, Va., turns 400, Kelso, head archeologist at the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, describes the process of unearthing America's oldest permanent English settlement and the new light his findings shed on it. Like most archeologists, Kelso rejoices when he finds garbage heaps: Jamestown's trash pits hold evidence of glass making, and recovered armor confirms the existence of a military barracks. Butchered skeletons of dogs and rats testify that, during months of starvation, colonists ate whatever they could find. Kelso's team also excavated an elaborate row house, a grander building than historians thought the earliest colonists had built. The most intriguing chapter examines several grave sites: among the surprising skeletal discoveries are the remains of a young man who apparently died of a gunshot wound in his leg. The shot suggests some heretofore unknown "political intrigue" in Jamestown's earliest years. At times, Kelso could have gone further in sketching the day-to-day life his artifacts reveal. Nonetheless, this slim book will join the ranks of James Deetz's In Small Things Forgotten and Ivor Noel Hume's Martin's Hundred, archeological studies that find a broad readership among colonial American history buffs.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Excellent...beautifully reproduced images....fine writing....[P]recisely the right book at the right time for both specialists and curious readers.”
—Richmond Times Dispatch
“Anticipating the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Bill Kelso and APVA/Preservation Virginia began thirteen years ago the archaeological exploration of the site of England's first permanent settlement in North America. What Kelso and his team have found there since the first shovel was turned is nothing less than astounding. Evidence of everything that was built, abandoned, and then lost during Jamestown's first decades survived, literally inches beneath commemorative statues of John Smith and Pocahontas. It is clear that Kelso's discovery and excavation of James Fort is, by far, the most important archaeological event in the long and distinguished history of archaeology in Virginia and that its contributions to historical understanding of Jamestown are significant for early Virginia and for the history of the Atlantic world.”
—Carter L. Hudgins, Hofer Distinguished Professor of Early American Culture, University of Mary Washington
“The exciting story of a momentous archaeological project, told firsthand by the scholars who uncovered the real Jamestown — the original fort from John Smith's day. Based on information derived from thousands of artifacts uncovered amid the graves and foundations of England’s earliest permanent settlement in America, William M. Kelso's Jamestown, the Buried Truth tells the world what his team found — and what it means. Their scholarship is impeccable, their maps and illustrations are magnificent, and their discoveries are amazing.”
—Jon Kukla, author of Mr. Jefferson's Women and A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America
“Kelso's extraordinary findings are sure to inspire a new generation of tourists, and scholars from around the world, to visit and revisit Jamestown. ”
—The New Yorker
“This is the story of perhaps the most dramatic discovery in historical archaeology in America, and it is still going on. Kelso tells it with flair and passion.”
—American Archaeology
“This is a truly remarkable archaeological detective story. ”
—Seattle Times
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Reimagining Jamestown
2. Rediscovering Jamestown
3. Recovering Jamestownians
4. Reanimating Jamestown
5. Royal Jamestown
All titles are published by: University Press Audiobooks
an imprint of
Redwood Audiobooks
Jamestown, the Buried Truth 