Object Details

Collector

Jamestown Rediscovery (Preservation Virginia)

Summary

Captain William West arrived at Jamestown in June 1610 as part of a military force commanded by his kinsman Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, the first captain general and governor of the colony. Several months later, De La Warr ordered some of his men to the falls of the James River—near present day Richmond—to repossess a fort (“Laware’s Fort”) abandoned by the English the year before. The fort was located in the heartland of the Powhatan chiefdom and fierce fighting between the English soldiers and elite Indian warriors took place there. The governor was present at the fort as winter set in when William West was killed in fighting. His kinship to Lord De La Warr was likely the reason he was brought back to Jamestown for burial.

Site Name

Historic Jamestowne

Data Source

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Field Identifier

Jamestown Chancel Burial D 170C

Credit Line

The Jamestown Chancel Burial investigation is a collaboration between the Smithsonian's Skeletal Biology Program, the Smithsonian 3D Digitization Program Office and Jamestown Rediscovery.

Taxonony

Homo sapiens