A complete horse skeleton from sometime after 1650 was discovered about a week ago at Historic Jamestowne as archaeology crews worked to find and identify the outlines of the expanded James Fort.
About eight lead tokens have also been found over the past month.
In the late 1990s, at the southeast corner of the triangle-shaped James Fort, the first evidence of a five-sided expansion done in 1608 was uncovered. Writing from John Smith indicates the “five square” form of the fort existed and crews followed that lead to uncover it. Most recently, crews have been digging to the northeast of the Jamestowne Memorial Church where a ditch with the horse skeleton was found.
Preservation Virginia’s research focus is on 1607 through 1624, the James Fort era, but in the time following the fort’s use, the land on Jamestown Island served as the state’s capitol and was used as farmland. As archaeologists search the dirt, they first must sift through a foot-deep layer of plowed earth, the dirt that was plowed by farmers for many years. The layer of dirt is dug up and sifted and that is where eight lead tokens were found.
On one side of the tokens is a two-headed eagle; on the other side is a Tudor rose surrounded by the words “God Save the Queen.” The tokens are referring to Queen Elizabeth I, who died in 1603, three years prior to James Fort being established.
The tokens have been found throughout the excavation of James Fort, but never so many at one time.
Preservation Virginia Senior Staff Archaeologist Daniel Schmidt said European archaeologists aren’t sure what the lead tokens were initially made for. It’s been speculated they may have been used as currency in the fort.
The horse skeleton was found in a ditch over what Schmidt said is believed to be a fort extension wall.
The skeleton is likely from sometime after 1650 but is still probably from the 17th century, Schmidt explained. It was identified as a male horse and was very old when it died. Experts are unsure what the horse died of or what it was used for at this point. During the time period it’s estimated to have lived in, horses were used for transportation, farm work and horseracing.
“We’ve never had a complete skeleton of a large mammal like this,” Schmidt said.
Extracting a skeleton requires a number of different tools. Schmidt said shovels are used to extract the first foot of plowed soil, then trowels are used to push the dirt around rather than digging on the lower layers. As things are discovered, wooden tools, dental tools and paint brushes are used to remove the dirt without damaging the item that’s buried.
Had the weather cooperated Monday, the horse’s skeleton would have been extracted from the ground. After the bones are removed, they’ll be cleaned and stabilized for conservation and cataloging.
For more information on the recent finds, read an update and watch a video on the Historic Jamestowne website.
