Jamestown Skeletons Bodies of Jamestown Founders The Remains

Jamestown Skeletons

Bodies of Jamestown Founders

The Remains

Jamestown Church • Within the 1608 church where Pocahontas and John Rolfe married, the skeletal remains of four early settlers were uncovered during a 2013 archaeological dig at Virginia’s historic Jamestown colony. Now, those bones have been identified as some of the leaders of that first successful British attempt to forge a new life in the new world across the Atlantic. • Built first of mud and wood, the original church structure had long since vanished. Archaeologists rediscovered the church’s original footprint five years ago.

Who Were They? • Only about 30 percent of each skeleton was recovered, and the bones were poorly preserved, so finding out who the men were presented a challenge that required multiple paths of investigation. • Eventually, the team identified the men as: • Rev. Robert Hunt, the chaplain at Jamestown and the colony’s Anglican minister, who died at age 39 in 1608 • Capt. Gabriel Archer, who died at age 34 in 1609 or 1610 during the “starving time” • Sir Ferdinando Wainman, who came to Jamestown with his first cousin, the governor of Virginia, and died at about age 34 in 1610 • Capt. William West, who died in 1610 during a skirmish with the Powhatan at age 24

Captain Gabriel Archer Capt. Gabriel Archer died in late 1609 or early 1610 at the age of 34 during the “starving time” at Jamestown, and was found buried with a captain’s leading staff and an enigmatic silver box. (Photo by Donald E. Hurlbert)

Catholic Reliquary A well-preserved silver box (shown before and after conservation) believed to be a Catholic reliquary resting on top of Capt. Gabriel Archer’s coffin was an unexpected find at the site of the 1608 Anglican church, suggesting that at least one of the colonists retained his Catholic faith, perhaps in secret. (Photo by Donald E. Hurlbert)

Reverend Robert Hunt The skeletal remains of the Rev. Robert Hunt, the first Anglican minister at Jamestown who served the colony until his death in 1608 around the age of 39. Hunt was buried without a coffin. (Photo by Donald E. Hurlbert)

Captain William West Capt. William West was killed in 1610 around the age of 24 during a skirmish with the Powhatan. He was found buried with the remnants of a military leader’s sash adorned with silver bullion fringe and spangles. (Photo by Donald E. Hurlbert)

The research team studied the unusual pattern of coffin nails from the graves and determined that Wainman and West were buried in uniquely styled anthropomorphic, or human-shaped, wooden coffins while Archer was buried in a hexagonal coffin. (Courtesy of Jamestown Rediscovery/Preservation Virginia)