Finding the Founders of English America

A team of archaeologists and scientists from the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation at Historic Jamestowne and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have identified the remains of four men buried in Jamestown’s recently discovered historic 1608 church, where Pocahontas married John Rolfe. These men were prominent leaders who helped shape the course of English America during its earliest years. After being lost to history for more than four centuries, the discovery and identification of the men - The Rev. Robert Hunt, Captain Gabriel Archer, Sir Ferdinando Wainman, and Captain William West - reveal new clues about life, death and the importance of religion at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent and successful English colony in America. The discovery also illustrates how modern scientific techniques, technology, archaeology, and archival research can be employed to aid new understandings of the past. To learn more please visit historicjamestowne.org and 3D.si.edu to see a digital model of the burial site.