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We started our exploration at the exhibit hall, where we saw scenes of life in an Indian village, an African village, and an English city from the early 1600s. We went into a room portraying key figures of the Virginia Company. We saw images of Pocahontas. We looked at a map that first lit up to show a vast number of Indian villages along waterways of the Coastal Plain in the early 1600s, then lit up to show Indian villages coexisting with English settlements a couple of decades later, and lit up again to show Indian villages almost entirely displaced by a vast number of English settlements later in the century. 

 

At the Indian village:

  • Our guide, James, invited the students to use shells to scrape the fur from deer hides, as the Indians did, and explained how the Indians cooked their food in pots shaped to fit in the hot coals of a fire.

  • An Indian interpreter showed us how Indians made good use of nearly every part of a deer: turning bones into awls and needles, fashioning a curved ankle bone into a fish hook, using dried tendons and ligaments for thread, boiling the toe to make glue, and so on.

  • We learned that Indian boys practiced their archery every day, and the students tried throwing feathered corn cobs through hoops to simulate this practice.

  • We looked at small garden plots representing the crops that the Indian women tended.

  • We looked inside a longhouse; among other things, we learned that the doorways were low to help in smoking and preserving meat.

  • The students tried using shells to scrape charred wood from the inside of a dugout canoe.

  • We were excited to see a large bald eagle nest and a bald eagle occasionally soaring above the treetops.

 

riverfront and ship

Field Trip to Jamestown, April 21, 2016

 

     The galleries and narratives below feature scenes from our trip to Jamestown on April 21: Indian village, dock and ship, inclined plane investigation, fort, glasshouse at Historic Jamestowne, and scenes from the van. (We were not permitted to take photos inside the museum.)

 

     Click the right arrow (appearing when your mouse hovers near the right edge) to move through the slides.

Indian Village

     At the dock, we looked at a map of the settlers' route and met with a kind elderly sailor interpreter who showed us how to tie a reef knot that pulls tight and can tie up a sail securely but can be easily released as needed. "Left over right, and under. Right over left, and under."

     We entered the replica of the Susan Constant and went below deck to the living quarters of roughly 70 passengers, rimmed with cannon. James showed us a hard sea biscuit, explaining that they could last for months or years if they didn't get damp or wet. He showed us a ship's whistle, explaining that voices on deck could not be heard below, along with the noise of waves.

     At another riverfront discovery area, the students used their knowledge of inclined planes to roll a heavy barrel onto a platform. Longer planks made for a more gradual incline and an easier time rolling the barrel. 

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fort

     Just outsde the fort, the students were charmed by a noisy rooster, and they enjoyed a hen strutting on a bed in one of the homes. 

     Inside the church, we learned that twice-daily church attendance was mandatory and was also a way to make sure all settlers were accounted for and that no spies were among them. The Church of England did not display the cross at the altar but instead displayed the king's seal. We learned briefly about the daub and wattle construction of the walls and the thatched roofs of the fort's buildings.

     The students all enjoyed trying on youth-sized armor; inside the colonial governor's home, we saw a more elaborate suit of armor and rather elegant furnishings, including a carpet-covered table and a four-poster bed.

     We learned about musketry from a soldier interpreter and enjoyed watching him load and fire gunpowder (without a musketball). While matchlock muskets were not very accurate and did not have a great range, they were still the more effective weapons than bows and arrows in Virginia's forests, and they were easier and less costly to make and faster to reload than rifles, taking "only" 30 seconds to reload vs three minutes. After 1609, every may was required to train daily in the use of the musket, sword, and wearing of armor. Since each musket varied slightly, musketballs needed to be custom-made for each musket, and this was part of the training.

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glasshouse at Historic Jamestowne

     After visiting the gift shop, we made a quick visit to the glasshouse at Historical Jamestowne, where we saw the remains of the 1608 glass furnaces and watched glassblowers blowing and shaping glass, using furnaces built in the same style as those of the original glasshouse, but powered now by gas instead of wood. Overnight temperatures of 2400 degrees F are needed in the large furnace to melt sand and other ingredients into glass; daytime temperatures of 2000 degrees maintain the glass in liquid form. Freshly blown glass is cooled gradually in a 900 degree oven to prevent cracking.

     The students were intrigued to watch the glassblowing. As we left, we paused along the shore of the James River before heading home.

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in the van

     In the van on the way to Jamestown, we played a Jamestown Jeopardy game with five student teams and a Dads team. On the way back, some students drew scenes from our visit, while others rested, looked at their souvenirs and photos, or visited, sometimes becoming a bit loud or wiggly.

     Overheard as we were leaving Jamestown: "This was the best field trip ever!"

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