• " What Kelso and his team have found there since the first
shovel was turned is nothing less than astounding. Evidence of everything
that was built, abandoned, and then lost during Jamestown's first
decades survived, literally inches beneath commemorative statues
of John Smith and Pocahontas. It is clear that Kelso's discovery
and excavation of James Fort is, by far, the most important archaeological
event in the long and distinguished history of archaeology in Virginia
and that its contributions to historical understanding of Jamestown
are significant for early Virginia and for the history of the Atlantic
world."
—Carter L. Hudgins, Hofer Distinguished Professor of Early
American Culture, University of Mary Washington
• "The exciting story of a momentous archaeological project,
told firsthand by the scholars who uncovered the real Jamestown—the
original fort from John Smith’s day. Based on information derived
from thousands of artifacts uncovered amid the graves and foundations
of England‚s earliest permanent settlement in America, William M.
Kelso’s Jamestown, the Buried Truth tells the world what
his team found—and what it means. Their scholarship is impeccable,
their maps and illustrations are magnificent, and their discoveries
are amazing."
—Jon Kukla, author of Mr. Jefferson’s Women and A
Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of
America
• "The excellent maps and drawings and the beautifully
reproduced images of the artifacts and the excavation site, together
with Kelso's fine writing, make this excellent contribution to Virginia's
history even more rewarding for the reader. This is precisely the
right book at the right time for both specialists and curious readers
who want to know how Virginia began."
—Richmond TimesD ispatch
|
Jamestown, the Buried Truth |
| |
| William M. Kelso |
| 256 pages, 6 1/2 x 9 1/4 |
| 121 color and 30 b&w illustrations |
| Cloth 978-0-8139-2563-9 • $29.95 |
| Paper 978-0-8139-2770-1 • $19.95 |
| Paper edition available August 2008 |
 |
"The unearthing of Jamestown is truly the autopsy of America,
an amazing dissection and reconstruction of four-hundred-year-old
artifacts and human remains that reveal how the first settlers
spent their days, how they lived and died, and what they accomplished
and suffered. Without chief archaeologist William Kelso's almost
mystical vision that the original site still existed and his persistence
against all odds to unearth it, we would have little to rely on
but legend to tell us how modern America began. Jamestown:
The Buried Truth, is brilliantly written, a story and adventure
unlike any other that will forever change the way we think about
what happened when John Smith and his brave followers sailed to
Virginia in 1607 and established the first permanent English settlement."
—Patricia Cornwell
What was life really like for the band of adventurers
who first set foot on the banks of the James River in 1607? Important
as the accomplishments of these men and women were, the written
records pertaining to them are scarce, ambiguous, and often conflicting,
and those curious about the birthplace of the United States are
left to turn to dramatic and often highly fictionalized reports.
In Jamestown, the Buried Truth, William Kelso takes us
literally to the soil where the Jamestown colony began, unearthing
the James Fort and its contents to reveal fascinating evidence
of the lives and deaths of the first settlers, of their endeavors
and struggles, and of their relationships with the Virginia Indians.
He offers up a lively but fact-based account, framed around a
narrative of the archaeological team's exciting discoveries. Once
thought to have been washed away by the James River, James Fort
still retains much of its structure, including palisade walls,
bulwarks, interior buildings, a well, a warehouse, and several
pits, and more than 500,000 objects have been cataloged, half
dating to the time of Queen Elizabeth and King James. Artifacts
especially reflective of life at James Fort include an ivory compass,
Cabasset helmets and breastplates, glass and copper beads and
ornaments, ceramics, tools, religious icons, a pewter flagon,
and personal items. Dr. Kelso and his team of archaeologists have
discovered the lost burial of one of Jamestown's early leaders,
presumed to be Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, and the remains of
several other early settlers, including a young man who died of
a musket ball wound. In addition, they've uncovered and analyzed
the remains of the foundations of Jamestown's massive capitol
building. Refuting the now decades-old stereotype that attributed
the high mortality rate of the Jamestown settlers to their laziness
and ineptitude, Jamestown, the Buried Truth produces a
vivid picture of the settlement that is far more complex, incorporating
the most recent archaeology to give Jamestown its rightful place
in history and thus contributing to a broader understanding of
the transatlantic world.
Atlantic Southeast Magazine features an article
on William Kelso at Jamestown
William M. Kelso is Head Archaeologist
of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.
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