Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Jamestown Archaeological Perspectives

Good Essays
766 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jamestown Archaeological Perspectives
There are several archaeological perspectives that can help explain the “Jamestown experience” between 1607 and 1700. The archaeological explanatory approaches: processual, post-processual, Marxism, and indigenous traditions, can all be applied to archaeological data to explain the experience between Colonial Settlers and Native populations in the Chesapeake Bay area. Processual archaeology uses a positivist approach when dealing with archaeological data, post-processual rejects a positivist approach and attempts to understand cultures in their own terms to explain forms and processes of change, Marxist archaeology is concerned with the struggle between classes and how these negotiations are seen as ritual, ideology, and institutions, and indigenous traditions argue that a more inclusive archaeology is necessary, one that encourages partnerships with Indigenous groups in the interpretation of their own past. In their article “Reconstructing Early 17th Century Estuarine Drought Conditions From Jamestown Oysters”, Harding et al. employ the processual explanatory approach to explain food and fresh water shortages in the first years of the Jamestown colony. Concerned only with the natural environment and ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay area, Harding et al. gathered their data from wells dug and used by the colonists from 1606 to 1612. The research dictates, from tree ring analysis and saline levels found in oyster shells, the colony encountered a severe regional drought upon arriving at Jamestown and for several years after. Harding et al. fail to take into account the socio/political factors associated with the new colonists and Native populations of the area. Harding et al. also fail to take into account the colonist’s unfamiliarity with the region as a possible reason for the lack of water and food. Dennis B. Blanton’s article “Drought as a Factor in the Jamestown Colony, 1607-1612” takes the post-processual approach to explaining not only the ecological effects, but social and ideological contexts that also effected the early years of the Jamestown settlement. Blanton uses scientific data and first hand colonial accounts to corroborate drought conditions, water availability, food shortages, intercultural hostilities, and mortality between 1606 and 1612. By using both scientific data and historical documentation, Blanton is able to correlate the data with first-hand accounts of what the Colonists were experiencing were experiencing at Jamestown.
Seth Mallios & Shane Emmett use the Marxist approach in their article “Demand, supply, and Elasticity in the Copper Trade at Early Jamestown” to explain the shift in power and decline of the value of copper in the Chesapeake Bay area, following colonial contact with Native populations. Mallios and Emmett discuss the historical value of copper and the public displays of copper to demonstrate status in pre-colonial Native populations. Mallios and Emmett theorize that Native populations were in fierce competition for access to copper and the overabundance of copper following the arrival of Colonists in Virginia. Mallios and Emmett conclude the inundation of copper into Native populations, decreased the ability of Elites to maintain control over the populace, and thus allowing for Colonists to survive and eventually thrive in the Chesapeake Bay. In his article “Culture Contact Studies: Redefining the Relationship between Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology”, Kent G. Lightfoot argues that pluralism should play a role in cultural contact studies and archaeology. Lightfoot points out that “Unfortunately, most colonial accounts were written from the perspective of affluent European men who documented little about the lifeways of lower class laborers and their relations with local native men, women, and children” (Lightfoot, 201). Lightfoot argues that Indigenous traditions are often ignored and states that including multi-ethnic populations in research can help broaden the scope with which archaeologists see the past. Jeffrey L. Hantman’s article “Between Powhatan and Quirank: Reconstructing Monacan Culture and History in the Context of Jamestown” introduces the Native perspective of the Powhatan and the Monacan, who were adversaries prior to colonial contact. Hantman theorizes that by looking at prior political/social contexts of Native populations can explain why Jamestown was able to survive. By using different archaeological perspectives when interpreting data collected from Jamestown, different insights are gained in reference to the “Jamestown experience”. Processual archaeology allows for the scientific data to speak for itself. Post-processual archaeology approaches Jamestown not only with scientific data, but incorporates the social/economical context of Jamestown. The Marxist approach integrates supply and demand into the mix to provide alternate theories regarding copper trade between Native populations and Colonists. The Indigenous perspective brings in the often neglected and ignored Native experience that was an integral part of the “Jamestown experience”. By applying different archaeological approaches, the “Jamestown experience” of Colonists and Native populations can be better understood and studied.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The story of Jamestown has a significant place in the history of America. There is much we can learn from Jamestown through its many trials and tribulations. In this essay, we will discuss the article, The Labor Problem at Jamestown, 1607-18 by Edmund S. Morgan and we will ask a few important questions to better understand its meaning in America’s past. Where does the author stand on the issue of American Exceptionalism? What is Morgan trying to prove in his thesis? How does this article fit with the book Patriot’s History? All of these questions will aid us in comprehending the story of Jamestown. (Thesis.)…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jamestown deaths

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Environment was a very important factor. The very environment the colonists lived in was not ideal. The colonists lacked a steady source of clean fresh water, the most precious resource needed to sustain life. (Document A) The nearby rivers and creeks became brackish as the water levels increase; the location that Jamestown was situated at, the transition between salt water and fresh water, caused the filth there to fester, which didn’t allow for waste to be disposed; and the water of the wells that the English colonists built could have been easily contaminated by salt water and have its water cut off by droughts. Droughts were a commonplace during this period, because (Document B) the colonists arrived during the time which one of the worst droughts of the area occurred. The natural environment of Jamestown also didn’t allow for adequate amounts of food to be produced. (Document A) The location of Jamestown provided the colonists with fish, but only in significant amounts during spring and early summer. Without a dependable production of food, a stable source of clean fresh water, and proper disposal of waste, the colonists were essentially inviting…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the biggest problems for the colonists is that the droughts decreased their chances for growing crops, (Doc. B) and the food that they did have, wouldn’t have been enough to last the winter. (Doc. D) From about 1607 to 1612, Jamestown suffered a horrible drought. This would be problems for the colonists because no water means that they can’t grow crops. Since crops are a source of food, that means that there was no food to feed the colonists. This leads to a reason they starved. Another reason they starved is Francis West’s men took the grain, put it on their ships, and didn’t even take it to Jamestown. (Doc. D) They took the grain to England. This had to be one of the biggest reasons for the colonist’s starvation.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The chapter demonstrates the aspects of comparative historical research. In the first part of the chapter, After the Fact, Serving Time in Virginia, various research methods used to verify what happened in the early Virginia colony by evaluation of Captain John Smith’s original narrative written to his published narrative, the research to seek historical evidence to verify names, dates and people, interpretation of anthropological facts about Algonquin Indians, and evaluation his writing style. As the chapter continues, it delves into historical analysis of economic and cultural growth of the Virginia colony reverting to what the author calls “most basic tactics of sociology” (After the Fact 6). The early colony failures were identified by historian’s research of documents from Colonial Virginia such as Smith’s writings; land company charters, written policies, and letters all reveal details about the colonies economics; trade company involvement, survival rate for new colonists, and identify innuendo’s of slavery and indentured servants. Historic research of these documents allows the author to make inferences about economic growth and how it relates to the cultural growth of the Virginia colony.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Colonist died due to lack of food. Document A states that, “the island is not situated at a point of great natural food abundance… Fish are present in local streams, but only in the spring and early summer are they there in impressive abundance….” Which means that not a lot of food grows on the island and there is also a lack of food in the water. There was also a drought in the early years of Jamestown which didn’t help with the lack of food. Without water things are unable to grow. Document D states that West and the crew decided that the food would not be enough to last the winter in Jamestown so instead of taking the food to Jamestown, where it was needed, they took it with them on their journey back to England.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a result of poor environment several of the Jamestown colonists died. The Virginia company traveled through the Chesapeake Bay and up the James River to an island. This is where the colonists decided to build their settlement. Most of the land on the island was swampy and some areas had standing water on it. Despite these problems, the colonists still decided to build their settlement on the island. The water in Jamestown was undrinkable causing another environment problem. The water became brackish. (This is when salt water and freshwater mix together making the water undrinkable), and made colonists sick if drank (Doc A). The colonists of Jamestown thought it was a good idea to build their settlement near the river but that caused problems of its own. Colonists would dump their trash and waste into the river, but the tides from the Chesapeake Bay pushed the trash and waste back into Jamestown instead of away from it. This caused the river water to become nasty and undrinkable. Another reason for death was because of the drought. From 1607-1611 Jamestown received almost no rainfall at all (Doc B). This drought caused for the crops not to grow, the colonists went through a period called the Starving Time. During the Starving Time colonists began eating pets such as cats and dogs, and even started cannibalism. One Jamestown settler was almost burned at the stake because he tried to kill his pregnant wife and eat her. By the end of the Starving Time more then hundred and ten colonists were dead. The poor…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Author William Cronon, Changes in the Land is a book that gives a detailed analysis on what life was like in the New England colony when the settlers first arrived. Cronon describes many things that the settlers experienced when they arrived over into New England and how it differed from England. Cronon discusses Indian relationships and how each group had different customs. In the book Cronon describes the landscape and how everyone was able to benefit from it. Cronon’s thesis is “the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes--well known to historians--in the…

    • 1723 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The water of the environment was one of the many problems. First, the water of the Jamestown River had waste in it (Doc A). This makes the water undrinkable, as the waste was brought upstream by ocean tides. Second, the water from Jamestown was salty as the fresh water mixed with the oceans brackish, salty, water (Doc A). This also makes the water undrinkable and the salt would also give you dehydration. Virginia was experiencing a drought during this time (Doc B). This means Jamestown had less than average rainfall, and their crops wouldn’t grow. Fresh water was scarce in Jamestown.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conditions of New England and the Chesapeake region were very different. Document F claims, "…our ordinary [food] was but mean and water so that this … little relieved our wants, whereby with extremity of the bitter cold frost … more than half of us died." The document describes the harsh living conditions that were imposed upon the colonists of the Chesapeake region. These conditions often reduced the…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most, if not all, travelers that were brought to ‘Early Jamestown’ were very inexperienced. These men seemed to think that they would easily find gold, and perfect cropping land and food handed to them on a silver platter. But as they got there, the environment wasn’t all that great. The rivers that were nearby the settlement had been invaded by the saltwater of the nearby ocean because of the tide. As stated in Document A, by a historian named Carville V. Earle, “disease in the early years to Jamestown’s position at the salt-fresh water transition, where filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away.” meaning that the waste of the people of Jamestown would just sit in the river, which would also create bacteria and diseases that would kill off some of the people that would drink the river water, and of the very few animals that lived in the area of Jamestown would die because of the same reasoning; That also leads into another reason of why the colonists died in Jamestown.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ever wonder how certain people would act before our time? History is such an important part of today’s culture and tradition. There are so many ways the stories, “History of Virginia” and, “Of Plymouth Plantation” make today what we are and what the world’s community is. Between these two stories there are so many differences and similarities. In this essay I will compare and contrast both stories and talk about what happened. These two stories both take place in two different colonies; Jamestown and Plymouth.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starting in 1607, colonists selected with what they believed to be an easily defended location, inland setting they believed would offer security. However, the site was low, swampy, hot and humid. In the summer outbreaks of malaria occurred. Since the settlers had no prior exposure, and therefore no immunity to infections of the new land. They quickly ran into other major early problems. First, the area had thick woods which made it difficult to clear for cultivation. Second, the land laid within the territory of powerful local Indians, confederation led by an imperial chief, Powhatan. Thirdly, promoters of London demanded a quick return on their investment; the colonists spent their energy on searching for gold. They quickly found out that there wasn’t any gold in Virginia. Among those problems, the London Company had little interest in creating a family-centered community. So, at first no women were present in Jamestown, making it difficult to establish and semblance of a society. Also, greed and rootlessness contributed to the failure to grow a sufficient food; inadequate diets contributed to colonists vulnerability to disease. When John Smith came along in 1608, he organized raids on neighboring villages to steal food and kidnap natives. Soon after that the “starving time” many people succumbed fevers before cold weather came. The local Indians…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One reason why the colonist died is the environment,the water was one of the big reasons why the died .another big reason was the bad conditions such as a long period of drought . Water lead to many death in early Jamestown . The brackish water was a big reason because the water wasn't clean so people got sick from it. So many became ill after they had the unsafe and in clean water. The bad conditions in early Jamestown such as the harsh winters and the long droughts killed them . Winter was not so nice to them 8 died during the winter(faux p.21)those 8 people aren't much but they could have helped a lot . They're was a long drought for many years from 1607-1608 (Stahle,P.15) the drought killed many people. Too many people got killed when they could have had good recourses and saved many lives.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Think that people in Jamestown died, because of disease. In document A, it states that the colonists situated themselves in an area with few reliable sources of fresh water. Almost all of the water around Jamestown was brackish and salty. The high tides rose twice a day, which made salt water intrusions to contaminate fresh water.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jamestown

    • 2236 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Jamestown might have gone the way of Roanoke had it not been for the perseverance of…

    • 2236 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics