John Smith's well: Time lapse excavation

From April to December of 2009 archaeologists with the Jamestown Rediscovery project at Historic Jamestowne in Virginia unearthed what was likely Jamestown's first well inside the center of James Fort. Captain John Smith himself likely ordered the construction of this well in late 1608 or early 1609. This well was nearly 16 feet deep and located below the floor of a cellar. The following video represents a time-lapse of that nine-month period of excavation.

[@cbassoo7]

This is the only truthful thing the AP has reported this year. Good job.

[@shawnwilliams3597]

Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful video with us. This is Ivana from Canada.

[@TheHolyMongolEmpire]

You guys have the best job in the world.

[@amybarb25]

This is so incredibly fascinating . I'm so glad you guys recorded this. Absolutely amazing work.

[@AnotherAmateur]

Very cool. We visited Jamestown in 1994 and got to watch one of the first excavations being dug. In 2009 we revisited the site and were amazed to see how much had changed. I had the chance to chat with Bill Kelso and later sent to him my video of the earlier excavation. I've uploaded a short video of a diorama on display at Jamestown back in 1994. Great work you are doing!

[@stephenburns3678]

Priceless. Thank you

[@marymathis9299]

Thank you for both your explanation and the years you all have invested to bring to us the truest history of our nation's beginnings.

[@karenmiller1705]

My ancestor John Short was one of the settlers of Jamestown. I'm definitely interested in the settlement and history!

[@Triple316]

Awesome! You all have worked so hard to get to do this. I’m impressed!

[@ericx4124]

I enjoyed this. Thank you.

[@jeffbaxter8770]

Thank you, fascinating stuff. More please

[@TheHolyMongolEmpire]

I can't wait to visit Jamestown, hope to get there soon. Been reading about it for almost 15 years. Such fascinating history.

[@azianboy317]

amazing work!

[@JamestownRediscovery]

@AnotherAmateur It's always interesting to hear how people feel about how much has changed out here since we began. Thanks for your interest and come back again when you get the chance.

[@rosemarywharfe7347]

What a discovery. Thankyou. Look forward to seeing more.

[@lindaeasley5606]

This is particularly fascinating when you have ancestors who were among the Virginia colonists

[@sherreenations5275]

I was there the day they brought up the first bucket of mud..met Dr. Kelso and got a pic of that meeting .me and my mom also PATRICIA CORNWALL WAS THERE and the blue and yellow national forensic copter flying over filming us looking into that bucket didn't know what was going on till later very fitting since I have ancestry back to 1500s in this country ..yes the one that had 32 children lol true.Isle of Wight..would love to have a signed copy of the above photo of me and my mom..signed by Beverly and Dr. Kelso..please!

[@thedynastycontinues945]

Truly Amazing.

[@sherir4462]

Wow! I have chills!

[@puppy2haley]

Just amazing!!!!

[@JohnnyButtons]

Wow.... just wow.

[@debrapapen]

Soooo Cool!

[@brettb.7425]

I’m thinking about going for a PhD in archaeology and am absolutely fascinated by these digs. I do have a question. If you expect rain, i presume you have large tarps ready for covering the site. Is this correct? It may be a self explanatory question but I have to ask. Great work and happy digging. God bless!! Brett

[@ericsgreyhairwisdom5799]

What depth for what age? The first thing I learned in treasure hunting is 1 inch depth = 10 years of history.

[@digginz8603]

Hey guys! Question: were the colonists were throwing garbage and rotting carcasses in their water supply?

[@daveybass655]

Oh man. Besides John Smith, and Pocahontas, my family is the first inter racial family in America. When Capt. Nathaniel Bass married the daughter of the Powhattan king, a native woman named Elizabeth. And my family is still here, 400 years later !

[@CodyGall]

How could the artifacts be both conserved and preserved?

[@KateFergeson]

Was it only six horses who were consumed? I thought it was perhaps more since “Six Mares and two Horses (stallions)” were shipped to the fort? I had read that one mare died en route on the Blessing, but that that the others made it?

[@PDGreen-ec7ss]

Was the barrel used to put implements in? Sounds like the well was used to hide the inplement and horse bones; maybe some were eating better than others! Just a thought. No privey's would mean certain that ground water contamination.

[@marymathis9299]

It's amazing...thank you all for this! Seems curious that what we would term as "trash" was found in their well...would they have been thoughtless and not realized they were polluting their water source, or is it more that it was no longer useful as a water source it became the first landfill in America? I realize there were a great deal of artifacts found which tell a story; could the things "not found" here be an indicator to life as it was being lived during this time? All this is like a magnet, pulls you back again and again to see what's new and to re-examine what has already been viewed to help fill in those gaps. Cool stuff...gratefully, m.m.

[@JamestownRediscovery]

It's filled b/c the water source has already gone bad so they abandoned it. We believe this particular well went bad due to salt water contamination and then was filled with trash. I see your name every now and then on this channel, thanks for your support and interest.

[@marymathis9299]

JamestownRediscovery You are so welcome; when I say this is like a magnet - it REALLY is...I have to come back frequently. At this point in life, I would love to be able to rewind the clock and decide for history and become a "real digger" and not just enjoying the labors of others, but since that will never be, I will be pleased to watch and enjoy you all and your great work. Going back to the well, I have heard something about the possibility of poison being used by the peers of the first settlers who were perhaps trying to do away with the Jamestown folk. How do you all feel about that? Does it seem to "hold water"? thanks, m.m.

[@JamestownRediscovery]

Mary Mathis Those of us who have spent the last 20 years out here working on the fort site don't buy into poison well theories. That being said there are pretty high natural arsenic levels as one gets closer to the swamps on the island. These wells were pretty far removed from the swamp so it should not have been an issue.

[@waynelkohrjr.8557]

Y was that caller so deep Was it flood plane over hundreds of years.

[@rec1412]

Have any out houses been discovered?

[@JamestownRediscovery]

Not one privy on the entire island in over 100 yrs of archaeology, which is a bit strange.

[@matcha721]

when they tried s hard to suck water out of the well but it just kept coming and they couldn't get deeper.

[@carbidegrd1]

why would you throw the remains of dogs and horses into your well?

[@bun04y]

I would guess that since the well was dug so close to the river that the water in the well kept becoming brackish (salty) so the well then became a trash pit...which would also explain all the artifacts found in the well.

[@TribeWilloughby]

Look what Y'all have done to poor Harry... You should understand by now how much harm this Disney story has done

[@beardg304]

Why did people throw all of their trash down the well?

[@chrisedy9116]

I have found something they would love But they Keep it to themselves So NO Way

[@somethingsomethingusername802]

"keep it for themselves", also know as, preserve it in far better conditions for far longer than any layperson would be able to, while also displaying it to the public, and documenting/analyzing it to further understand the area from which it was found (maybe where it came from, who likely made it, how it ended up there, why, etc.). It's much more than "keeping it for themselves", that's actually exactly what you are doing, and why we have Preservation/Conservation Laws to prevent it.

[@spymaine89]

no excuse for starving in winter. there in summer should have stored. knew the land, ax thru frozen ground, eat roots, bugs, other sm lifeforms under rocks, logs. the pity is how obtuse they were.

[@scottnix4991]

I know I will not get a response after all this time, but why would they throw animal remains into their drinking water supply? It doesn't make sense.

[@JamestownRediscovery]

We get this question a lot! The animal remains in the well were deposited after the well had already been abandoned for drinking water. These early Jamestown wells would often go bad due to salt water contamination from the nearby James River, and once they could no longer provide potable water the former wells would become trash pits. Since the Jamestown colonists did not have trash collection to bring waste such as animal remains to an offsite location, they would often throw their trash away in pits like wells like this one that were no longer in use.

[@peggygraham6129]

While I appreciate your work using metric measurements would have you understood by the scientific community and the rest of us in the world.