The archaeology of Martin's Hundred. Part II: Artifact Catalog.

Name:

Noël Hume, Ivor; Noël Hume, Audrey

Timespan:

17th century

Date:

2001

Description:

The Archaeology of Martin's Hundred explores the history and artifacts of a 20,000-acre tract of land in Tidewater Virginia, one of the most extensive English enterprises in the New World. Settled in 1618, the settlement was almost destroyed in an Indian attack in 1622. All signs of its early occupation soon disappeared, leaving no trace above ground. More than three centuries later, archaeological explorations uncovered tantalizing evidence of the people who had lived, worked, and died there in the seventeenth century.; In Part I, Interpretive Studies, retired Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists Audrey and Ivor Noel Hume ask four critical questions, all with complex and sometimes unsatisfactory answers: "Who was Martin?" "What was a hundred?" "When did it begin and end?" "Where was it located?" What follows is the story of how scientific detective work resulted in a reconstruction of what daily life must have been like in the strange and dangerous new land of colonial Virginia. The Noel Humes use first-person accounts, documents of all sorts, and the treasure trove of artifacts carefully unearthed from the soil of Martin's Hundred.; In Part II, Artifact Catalog, the principal artifacts from the excavations at Martin's Hundred are illustrated and described in 110 figures. The objects, divided by category and by site, range from ceramics, which were the most readily and reliably datable, to glass, of which there was little, to metalwork, in all its varied aspects from arms and armor to rail splitters' wedges, and, finally, to tobacco pipes. Documentation places the objects within the scope of their use and broad historical context.; The two-part Archaeology of Martin's Hundred is the fascinating account of the ways in which archaeological fieldwork, laboratory examination, and analysis based on lifelong study of documentary and artifact research came together to increase our knowledge of early colonial history.

Language:

English

Publisher:

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Relation:

Digital facsimile for browsing (Colenda): pt.1: https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3z60d40h

Subject:

Carter, Robert, 1663-1732; Excavations (Archaeology); Plantation life; History; Plantation life -- Virginia -- Williamsburg Region -- History -- 17th century; Excavations (Archaeology) -- Virginia -- Williamsburg Region; Carter, Robert, 1663-1732 Homes and haunts Virginia Williamsburg Region

Resource Type:

Text

Form/Genre:

books; biographies (literary genre)

Physical Description:

2 volumes (xiv, 600 pages) : illustrations; 29 cm

Geographic Subject:

Martin's Hundred Site (Va.); Carter's Grove (Va.); Wolstenholme Towne (Va.); Williamsburg Region (Va.) -- Antiquities; Williamsburg Region (Va.) -- Biography; Virginia -- Williamsburg Region

Rights:

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Rights Note:

© University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; presented with permission.

Notes:

Table of contents: pt. 1. Interpretive studies -- pt. 2. Artifact catalog.

Physical Location:

LIBRA, LIBRA, F234.M378 N6253 2001; Museum Library, Stacks, F234.M378 N6253 2001

Collection:

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Collection