<![CDATA[Scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have identified the remains of four men who died 400 years ago and were among the first community leaders of Jamestown - the earliest successful British colony in North America. The four, a priest; Robert Hunt, two army men; captains Gabriel Archer and William West, and nobleman Ferdinando Wainman, all died before turning 40. This was something very frequent in those days in the nascent colony as attacks from the indigenous peoples, starvation, and diseases made life for the early settlers extremely dangerous, James Horn, the director of Jamestown Rediscovery; the foundation that worked with the scientists, said at a media conference. The four skeletons were found near the choir in the oldest Protestant church in America, built in 1608. This location told the researchers who uncovered them that the people buried there had been of high status, most likely leaders of the colony. Analysis of the bones aiming at identification, however, was a slow and difficult process because none of the skeletons were complete - only about a third of the bones had survived. The team working on them applied archaeological techniques, skeletal analysis, 3D technology, and genealogical research methods to identify the four men. They were also able to identify the time and most likely cause of death for each of the individuals after conducting a chemical analysis that provided insight into the diet of the men and the presence of heavy metals in their bones. The youngest, captain William West, died aged 24, in 1610 during a conflict with the local indigenous people, the Powhatan. Wainman, the nobleman, died at 34 although the cause of death in this case hasn't been confirmed. He is the first representative of the then English elite to be buried in the New World, AFP notes. The other military man, captain Archer, died either in late 1609 or early 1610 during a prolonged period of starvation in the colony, when some 250 of the settlers died either from hunger, disease, or Powhatan attacks, VOA News quotes the Smithsonian as saying. Interestingly, Archer may well have been a secret Catholic in the Anglican colony because the researchers found a silver box on top of his coffin, very probably a reliquary. Archer led some of the earliest expeditions of the Jamestown settlers. Hunt, who was the first Anglican minister in Jamestown, died in 1608 at the age of 39. Jamestown, set up in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in the New World, the first step for Britain towards its imperial status. The early years of the colony were difficult, and during the 'Starving Time' – the last two years of the first decade of the seventeenth century – more than 80% of the first colonists died from starvation, disease, and in skirmishes with the Powhatan. The natives were initially welcoming to the settlers and provided them with invaluable resources and support but fairly soon the sentiment changed, which eventually resulted in the complete annihilation of the tribe. Jamestown was the capital of the English colony until the end of the seventeenth century. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user: Tony Fischer ]]>
Earliest Community Leaders in Jamestown Identified
