Early Architecture at James Fort: The Transformation of a Traditional Architectural Form in a Colonial Context.

Author(s): J. Eric Deetz

Year: 2013

Summary

The colonists at Jamestown arrived in Virginia with a variety of experiences and skill sets.  The architectural remains of the early period at James Fort have been interpreted as the remnants of Mud and Stud, a traditional building technique used in the clay lands of England and one that persisted in the eastern fenlands of Lincolnshire well Into the nineteenth century. This type of building was considered by Eric Mercer to be somewhere between the earth and timber frame traditions.  The author will address the factors that caused this type of building to persist in Lincolnshire as well as why this type of construction became part of the strategies for success for the early English colonial immigrants at Jamestown, Virginia. The author will also examine possibility that this building type was transformed in the colonial setting into what was to referred to by Dell Upton as "Virginia Framing" tradition.

Cite this Record

Early Architecture at James Fort: The Transformation of a Traditional Architectural Form in a Colonial Context.. J. Eric Deetz. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428453)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
17th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 567