New Discoveries at Jamestown Part 7

PISTOLS

Only a few pistol barrels and parts have been unearthed. One pistol barrel is attractively ornamented with silver bands.

LIGHT ARMOR AND SIEGE HELMET

A breastplate and backpiece from a light suit of armor (probably a pikeman's suit) were found in a refuse pit. These interesting specimens were probably made in England during the 1600-20 period.

In 1953, Sgt. Floyd E. Painter found an English siege helmet (1600-40 period) 4 miles down the river from Jamestown Island.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A JAMESTOWN SENTRY ON DUTY SHOULDERING HIS HEAVY MATCHLOCK MUSKET. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARLY MUSKET BARREL AND GUN PARTS EXCAVATED AT JAMESTOWN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BREASTPLATE FROM A LIGHT SUIT OF ARMOR FOUND IN A REFUSE PIT. THIS WAS ONE TYPE USED BETWEEN 1600 AND 1640.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A HEAVY SIEGE HELMET FOUND 4 MILES DOWNRIVER FROM JAMESTOWN. WEIGHING OVER 8 POUNDS, IT WAS ONE TYPE USED IN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE 17TH CENTURY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EARLY JAMESTOWN SETTLERS WERE ADVISED TO EQUIP THEMSELVES WITH "ONE ARMOUR COMPLEAT, LIGHT." (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

Farming

The first settlers brought seeds from England, and planted wheat 2 weeks after landing at Jamestown.

The early Virginians successfully grew many kinds of crops: grains (wheat, Indian corn, barley, oats, and rye), vegetables (peas, beans, turnips, parsley, onions, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, and others), and fruits (apples, peaches, apricots, quince, figs, grapes, and melons).

The colonists planted Indian corn as early as 1609, and cultivated many other Indian foods, including pumpkins, beans, and squash. They cultivated tobacco (an Indian plant) as early as 1612, and during the remainder of the century it was the most profitable crop grown. For many years it was the economic salvation of the struggling colony.

Attempts were made by the early colonists to grow other crops which, for various reasons, did not thrive at Jamestown. Some plants, like bananas, pineapple, citrus fruits, and pomegranates, could not withstand the cold Virginia winters. Other plants, including rice, cotton, indigo, sugarcane, flax, hemp, and olives, did not grow vigorously for one reason or another, and repeated efforts to cultivate them usually resulted in failure. Mulberry trees grew well at Jamestown (the leaves were used to feed silk worms), but attempts to make silk were not successful commercially.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOOLS USED IN THE CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO OVER 300 YEARS AGO. THESE TOOLS--HOE, BILLHOOK, AND CUTTING KNIVES--WERE EXCAVATED AT JAMESTOWN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CULTIVATING A SMALL GARDEN IN VIRGINIA. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW FARM TOOLS USED BY AN EARLY SETTLER FOR CULTIVATING HIS NEWLY CLEARED LAND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIs.h.i.+NG PROVIDED FOOD AS WELL AS RECREATION FOR THE COLONISTS. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW OF THE MANY ARTIFACTS RELATING TO FIs.h.i.+NG UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN: FISHHOOKS, FISH-GIGS, AND LEAD NET WEIGHTS.]

Handtools used by the Jamestown farmers during the 17th-century have been found in abundance. These include axes, picks, billhooks, pitchforks, spades, rakes, mattocks, sickles, scythes, broad hoes, narrow hoes, and shovels.

Only a few parts belonging to heavy farming implements have been unearthed, including a few ploughshares and small metal fragments from wagons, carts, and harrows.

Fis.h.i.+ng

When the first settlers planted their small colony at Jamestown, the tidewater rivers and bays and the Atlantic Ocean bordering the Virginia coast teemed with many kinds of fish and sh.e.l.lfish which were both edible and palatable. Varieties which the colonists soon learned to eat included sheepshead, shad, sturgeon, herring, sole, white salmon, ba.s.s, flounder, pike, bream, perch, rock, and drum, as well as oysters, crabs, and mussels. Seafood was an important source of food for the colonists, and at times, especially during the early years of the settlement, it was the main source.

Those in England who planned to go to Virginia were always advised to provide themselves (among other items) with nets, fishhooks, and lines.

During archeological explorations, fishhooks, lead net weights, fish-gigs, and small anchors were uncovered. These are reminders of a day when fish and sh.e.l.lfish were abundant in every tidewater Virginia creek, river, and bay.

Health

Keeping well and healthy, even managing to stay alive in the unfamiliar Virginia wilderness during the first two decades of the Jamestown settlement, was no easy matter. In the group of 105 original settlers, 67 died during the first 8 months. During the hard winter of 1609-10 (known as the "starving time"), the population dwindled from 500 to about 60 as a result of sickness, Indian attacks, and famine.

One of the members of the first colony was a surgeon, William Wilkinson by name. As the colony grew, other surgeons, physicians, and apothecaries, emigrated to Virginia. Their lot was not easy, for it appears that they were seldom idle in an island community having more than its share of "cruell diseases, Swellings, Flixes, Burning Fevers, warres and meere famine."

During archeological explorations, drug jars, ointment pots, bleeding bowls, mortars and pestles, small bottles and vials, and parts of surgical instruments were recovered. These, undoubtedly, were used countless times at Jamestown by unknown "chirurgions," doctors of "physickes," and apothecaries--men who tried to keep the colonists well with their limited medical equipment and scant supply of drugs.

Amus.e.m.e.nts and Pastimes

The difficult and time-consuming job of conquering the Virginia wilderness (clearing the land, building homes, planting and harvesting crops, and warding off Indian attacks) left few hours for leisure and amus.e.m.e.nts. There were times, however (especially after the first few hard years had pa.s.sed), when a colonist could enjoy himself by smoking his pipe, playing a game, practicing archery, bowling, playing a musical instrument, singing a ballad, or taking part in a lively dance.

Excavated artifacts reveal that the settlers enjoyed at least these few amus.e.m.e.nts and pastimes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PHYSICIAN BLEEDING A PATIENT. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW ITEMS UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN WHICH WERE USED BY DOCTORS AND APOTHECARIES. INCLUDED ARE DRUG JARS, OINTMENT POT, BLEEDING BOWL, MORTAR AND PESTLE FRAGMENTS, GLa.s.s VIALS, AND PORTIONS OF SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENJOYING A SMOKE IN A TAVERN, ABOUT 1625. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW OF THOUSANDS OF CLAY PIPE FRAGMENTS UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN. THE ONES SHOWN RANGE IN DATE FROM 1600 TO 1700. DURING THIS 100-YEAR PERIOD, PIPES DEVELOPED FROM SMALL BOWLS TO FAIRLY LARGE ONES.]

SMOKING

The first colonists were quite familiar with the use of tobacco, and it is believed that many of them smoked clay pipes. Evidently there was some demand for tobacco pipes by the early planters as one of the men, Robert Cotten, who reached Jamestown in January 1608, was a tobacco pipemaker.

In 1611-12 John Rolfe had experimented with tobacco plants in Virginia (he used Virginia plants as well as varieties from the West Indies and South America), and was successful in developing a sweet-scented leaf.

It became popular overnight, and for many years was the staple crop of the infant colony. There was a prompt demand for the new leaf in England, and its introduction there was an important factor in popularizing the use of clay pipes. After 1620 the manufacture of white clay pipes in England increased by leaps and bounds.

It is estimated that there are over 50,000 clay pipe bowls and stem fragments in the Jamestown collection--perhaps the largest a.s.semblage of its kind extant. Pipe bowls and stem fragments were found wherever excavations were made, indicating that the smoking of clay pipes was an extremely popular custom at Jamestown.

During the 1607-1700 period, pipe-bowls developed in size from small to fairly large. In most examples that have been found, the early pipes have larger stem-holes than pipes made during the latter years of the century.

Although the majority of pipes found at Jamestown were imported from England, some were made in Holland. Some of the colonists made their pipes in Virginia from local clay, either by pipemaking machines or by handmolding. The English and Dutch pipes were white in color, whereas the local product was brown. As they were fragile, not a single complete pipe has been unearthed at Jamestown.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HARVESTING TOBACCO AT JAMESTOWN, ABOUT 1650. (Painting by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHILDRENS' GAMES DEPICTED ON DUTCH DELFTWARE FIREPLACE TILES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE GAMES CHILDREN PLAY TODAY. THE TILES WERE MADE IN HOLLAND ALMOST 300 YEARS AGO.]

GAMES