Jamestown: An English Fort in the Land of Tsenacommacah

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Colonial Forts in Comparative, Global, and Contemporary Perspective", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Over the last 28 years, the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeology team has uncovered nearly all of the original James Fort (ca. 1607). Once thought lost to erosion, the formulaic expression of this English fortification implemented in Virginia can now be reconciled in the context of the historical record and archaeological evidence. While the style and layout are based on European antecedents, mitigating factors to the development of the James Fort are predicated on the landscape of Jamestown Island, the availability and type of supplies held by the English colonists, and the impact and agency of Tsenacommacan (Powhatan) warriors. This paper will review and answer questions about how and why James Fort was settled on the Banks of the James River, Virginia, and unforeseen external pressures that helped shape the nascent English incursion that would mark the start of wider colonization efforts worldwide.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Colonial Forts in Comparative, Global, and Contemporary Perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow