Excavating the 1617 Church at Historic Jamestowne, Time-Lapse

This video documents the excavation of the western wall of the 1617 Church at Historic Jamestowne, which is known to be where the first elected representatives in the English New World (i.e., The Virginia General Assembly) first met on July 30, 1619. This excavation by the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological staff was within the existing late 17th -century church tower on Jamestown Island.
The video begins with an image of the Church Tower’s brick floor which was removed (along with several inches of concrete) to expose the soil containing the 1617 brick and cobble church wall. Several archaeological techniques, e.g., Ground Penetrating Radar, mapping and photo-documentation of features are displayed in this video as well as lots and lots of troweling.
Methods - The 4 minute video was assembled from approximately 32,000 photos taken at 10 second intervals between January 23 - February 6, 2019. It was compiled at a rate of 111 photos / sec so that each “video-second” is 18.5 minutes real time. The video soundtrack includes “Clinch Mountain Quickstep” and “Mahogany Lilt” from Timothy Seaman’s Sycamore Rapids and Wayfaring Stranger CDs, respectively. To hear more of Timothy’s wonderful music please visit - timothyseaman.c...."

[@grendelgrendelsson5493]

That was splendid! As an archaeologist and historian who broke his back (which limits my participation in excavations somewhat) I enjoyed that video very much.

[@allenpeck8239]

Grendel Grendelsson I’m sorry that misfortune found you, but I’m glad to hear that you’re still enthusiastic! Only Way To Be. Well done...

[@renawyatt2367]

I am thankful for this. My 8th great grandfather, Haute Wyatt, I believe was a vicor in the 1617 church when his brother Francis Wyatt was Govenor in 1621. So I know they both spent time in that area of the church.

[@jasonshumate6456]

My 1st relative, A woman arrived in Jamestown in 1618, its amazing to think something found might be hers.

[@axerxes3981]

The video is terrific. HOWEVER a running commentary explaining why and what was happening would have been far more informative. Us laymen often have no idea why some things happen at a dig and some explanation would have been helpful. Thanks for sharing..... Ax

[@scottcates]

Fascinating!

[@KristinD27]

Very cool. What are the little orange tabs for? (I assume they're markers, but I couldn't figure out what for.)

[@stevenjohnson2273]

Probably marking the location of artifacts so that they can be properly recorded and mapped.

[@JamestownRediscovery]

That's correct, they are for mapping purposes.@@stevenjohnson2273

[@patrickbush9526]

Somebody should tell those guys to slow down some they're going to have a heart attack

[@joannamallory2823]

Watching this, I remember Time Team members being frustrated by the maddening slowness with which the Americans excavated sites. Lol.

[@JamestownRediscovery]

Hilarious

[@toxicated3622]

i could of excavated it quicker with a broom

[@JamestownRediscovery]

We need to sign you up then. You should have seen all the concrete that sealed these layers.

[@allenpeck8239]

JamestownRediscovery An Excellent Response. Most Fitting...

[@maitai1133]

Huh.

[@allenpeck8239]

What a thoughtful comment. You must’ve been top in your class