2005

In 2005, archaeologists followed James Fort’s west wall footprint to the fort’s north bulwark and continued work on the foundations for the rowhouses (ca. 1611) just inside that wall. There was a surprising discovery of a ca. 1617 addition to the rowhouses, made by Governor Argall. The brick chimney for Argall’s extension collapsed into an earlier fort-period well. This well held a quarter of a million artifacts, including a loaded pistol and a ceremonial halberd that is on display in the Archaearium.

Excavations also identified graves inside the west corner of the fort that contained the remains of many of the original 1607 colonists. Three postholes found in the fort’s center appeared to reveal the fort’s storehouse, which historical documents suggested would have been in the middle of the fort. Archaeologists also found a bombproof for the 1861 Confederate fort from the Civil War.

Dig Update Archive, 2004-present