Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland

The colony of Virginia, established in 1607 with the founding of Jamestown, was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. While the first colonists came to Virginia seeking gold, they instead obtained wealth through the cash crop of tobacco. The cultivation of tobacco created a demand for labor that was initially met by European indentured servants (servants contractually bound to labor without pay for a set period of time) and later by enslaved Africans. As Written in Bone documents, archaeological sites in Virginia reveal much about the harsh realities of colonial life, including the high mortality rates and the settlers’ struggles with disease and conflict. The remains of JR1225B, for example, showed signs of heavy physical toil as well as an injury by an arrowhead.

Maryland was founded in 1634 by Cecil Calvert, also known as Lord Baltimore—the brother of one of the people whose remains Walker describes. It was established as a haven for English Catholics facing persecution in Protestant England. The colony’s charter granted Calvert significant autonomy, allowing religious freedom for all Christians, which was unique for its time. Unlike the first settlers of Jamestown, the first colonists in Maryland included women. Maryland’s economy was based on tobacco farming, which became the colony’s primary export and a significant source of wealth.