Flashpoint of Empires

The Archaeological Rediscovery of Jamestown

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 6:30 p.m.

The Thompson and Knight Lecture

Houston Museum of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Drive

General Admission – $18.00, AIA and HMNS Members – $12.00

Dr. William Kelso, Director of Research, The Jamestown Recovery Project

Cosponsored by the Houston Museum of Natural Science

James Fort at Jamestown, where modern America and the British Empire began, and where one of the earliest clashes between Europe and America’s indigenous groups took place, has been discovered by archeologists who have uncovered “The Buried Truth.”

The Fort’s incredible rediscovery lies in the correction of a historical myth: that the site of the original first Jamestown settlement of 1607 had washed into the James River long ago. An archaeology team lead by Dr. William Kelso used primary source materials: a map created by a Spanish spy, accounts of original colonists, including John Smith and clues on the landscape, to locate the original wall posts from the Jamestown Fort, which indeed had not washed into the James River. The team’s excavation uncovered over 1.2 million artifacts within the original fort walls at Jamestown (1607-1624), from pottery shards and tobacco pipes to combat armor and evidence of numerous industries, as well as the remains of settlers themselves.

The Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project has made it possible to understand the heretofore lost plan of the first permanent English colony that became the genesis of the British Empire. This new research offers a fresh way to assess the clash of the British and native Powhatan Empires, and to view settlers’ “New World” experience in this alien environment.

William Kelso, one of America’s foremost historical archaeologists specializing in early American history, serves as the Director of Research and Interpretation for the Preservation Virginia Jamestown Rediscovery project. Previously, Kelso served as director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg’s Carter’s Grove and Monticello, as well as Commissioner of Archaeology for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Following the lecture Dr. Kelso will sign copies of Jamestown, The Buried Truth.