William M. Kelso has been the chief archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery project from the beginning. His book, Jamestown, the Buried Truth, is a lucid and enthralling history of the excavations and of the reinterpretation of the events of the first few years of the Virginia colony. So clear and informative is the text that the volume is one of the best books ever on how students of the past, whether archaeologists or other kinds of historians, do their work. Brent Tarter, Richmond Times Dispatch.

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.

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