The Hindu : International : Mission to identify historic skeleton

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005

International

International

Mission to identify historic skeleton

Refocusing on America's first English settlement

NORFOLK (VIRGINIA): Thirteen years before the Mayflower's voyage to the New World, Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold oversaw an expedition that led to the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Now, Virginia preservationists are travelling to England to determine whether they have found his skeleton at the site of the Jamestown colony.

Excavations were planned next week at two churches to retrieve DNA samples from the remains of Gosnold descendants — a sister and a niece. Radar surveys were conducted at the churches earlier this year, but the process to extract the genetic material still involves uncertainties.

"In archaeology, the unexpected usually happens," says William Kelso, director of archaeology at the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

Gosnold, though largely unrecognised historically, is considered a primary organiser and head of the expedition that led to Jamestown's founding in 1607. Capt. John Smith's role received most of the attention because Gosnold became ill and died at age 36 — three months after arriving in Virginia.

"It is a chance to refocus the history of Jamestown," said Mr. Kelso, who directed the archaeological dig that found the unidentified skeleton in 2003. "This significant leader has been minimised ... because there was so little documentation."

A DNA match would be confirmation, but other evidence already suggests that scientists unearthed Gosnold's remains outside the site of the Jamestown Fort. The nearly intact skeleton appeared to be that of an English male in his 30s, and a decorative staff used by captains of the era lay on the coffin's lid.

Genetic samples from Gosnold's descendants are needed because scientists working with skeletal remains can only trace DNA through maternal relatives.

The Church of England granted permission for the project since the remains of Gosnold's sister, Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney, were believed to be under the floor of Shelley All Saints Church in Suffolk, eastern England. Those of his niece, Katherine Blackerby, were thought to be in a vault at St. Peter and St. Mary Church in nearby Stowmarket.

If archaeologists believe they have found the right graves, a Smithsonian Institution scientist will make a forensic analysis of the skeletons and obtain a bone sample.

No skeletons will be removed from the sites.

"This has gone through so many steps and so many committees for good reason," Mr. Kelso said.

At the Shelley church, for instance, the inscription in brass on a ledger stone believed to mark the grave of Tilney's husband has worn off. Archaeologists planned to raise the stone, then look for the outline of a burial shaft and excavate down to the graves of the husband and wife who would be side by side. But the gravestone could be out of place.

Scientists may have better luck at Stowmarket, where the grave is marked with the name of Blackerby's husband, Thomas Blackerby. Mr. Kelso said the search will be called off if it is not clear where the graves are or if damage could be done to a building. — AP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International