it will be a fun experience.
Re-enactors demonstrate what life was like in Casti de San Marcos.
3. A Failed Attempt at Settlement
Jamestown, Virginia
It felt otherworldly to watch a hologram of a human skull hanging in space and turning before us with the face of its previous owner gradually being reconstructed on its surface. This was the face of one of the original settlers in the first permanent English colony in North America at Jamestown, Virginia. This and other striking new ways of presenting history at Historic Jamestown were at the Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Archaearium that opened in May 2006 on Jamestown Island.
An impressive aspect of the center is how modern forensic science techniques also have been used to reconstruct some of the skeletons excavated from an unmarked graveyard beneath the Statehouse. Several skeletons have undergone considerable detective work enabling archaeologists to surmise who they were, how they lived and how they died. Given the advances in forensics and facial and body reconstruction, we can foresee the day when we visit historic sites peopled by mannequins that are exact reproductions of the individuals who died there.
On display are the skeletons of a founding father, Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, and “JR,” a young man showing evidence that he died from a musket ball wound to his knee. Also reconstructed were the faces of three other colonists.
Items dug up from the long lost James Fort site are on display for the first time. Artifacts such as musical instruments, games, tools and trade items are placed in their historical context with a recorded narration explaining what they tell us about life in early Colonial times. Another unusual display is of a well with a suit of armor and dozens of other objects suspended in the positions in which they were discovered by archaeologists.
Most of the people who set out to colonize the area in 1607 died young. Many of the men who came were of high social status, and the usual interpretation is they did not have the hunting or agricultural skills needed for survival. Archeologists point out a major factor might have been that they arrived here during the worst drought in 770 years.
The Archaearium building itself is highly unusual. With large glass windows and an exterior coated in copper, it is placed over the remains of the last Statehouse in Jamestown. The placement allows visitors to see portions of the excavated ruins through sections of the glass floor.
A statue of Captain John Smith stands
on the grounds at Jamestown, Virginia.
SECTION TWO: COLONIAL AMERICA
4. Colonial Michilimackinac
Mackinaw City, Michigan
A young re-enactor and cook prepare treats
for the visitors to Colonial Michilimackinac.
Touring Michigan was remarkably fun because of the number of times we visited sites where we had the sensation of traveling back in time. Our most authentic sense of reliving history was in Mackinaw City at Colonial Michilimackinac. This fort was founded in 1715 by the French and destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War; the British then moved everything they could to a base on Mackinaw Island.
What they couldn’t carry away they burned. Archaeologists, however, are doing a commendable job of reconstructing the original fort. The site already is impressive, but they are still in the process of uncovering items in places where they intend to restore even more buildings.
As visitors, we were involved in three kinds of interactions. First, we took the audio tour that gave an introduction at each significant spot, such as the water gate, the king’s storehouse and the soldiers’ barracks. By punching an additional key, we would hear a re-enactor explain his or her relationship to the fort. For example, a man portraying a British officer in charge talked about his life and read some of his poetry, and another portraying a Scottish doctor explained why he decided not to return to Scotland, where his people would not understand his decision to marry an Indian woman. Often we heard music of the period.
The second way of involving the visitors was the displays in most of the buildings, not just artifacts and commentary but in many cases mannequin displays depicting how the everyday tasks of this period were performed. The most striking was a basement in the Northwest Rowhouse with the Treasures from the Sand Exhibit. More than a million items dug up by the archaeologists have been grouped into classes such as tools, weapons, household items and trade goods. One magical display first showed the walls of the buildings, which then disappeared, and we saw only the diggings of the archaeologists followed by the reappearance of the buildings’ walls.
The third most important part of the program involved the re-enactors, few in number but well-trained and personable. After the cannon firing and musket display, a sergeant took us on a tour of the buildings and introduced us to a cook, who was using the fireplace for cooking and baking, a priest, and the lead archaeologist.
Later, the sergeant played a violin at a wedding, a re-enactment of one that really had taken place there. The bride and groom led us in a merry dance on the parade ground. Back in the kitchen, we watched a boy of about 11 make flatbread. He cooked it on a grill placed on hot coals and then shared it with the audience after smearing it with butter, sugar and cinnamon.
A film introduced us to the period, and brief films were shown at other stops. The French had established good relationships with the Indians, and the fur trade benefited both groups. The French learned American Indian ways and respected them and often intermarried.
The British, however, didn’t follow these customs when they took over. In revenge, the Indians pretended to play a game of lacrosse outside the gate. When they tossed the ball over the wall and rushed in to retrieve it, the women threw off their blankets and handed the men weapons, which they used to kill the soldiers in the fort. After that, the British decided it was in everyone’s best interests to pay more attention to local customs.
Re-enactment of a wedding that had taken place
in Colonial Michilimackinac
5. The Moravians Built a City
Old Salem, North Carolina
On our visit to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, we concentrated our attention on the Moravians who had settled the area in stages. We went first to their original 1753 settlement Bethabara, which has a visitor center, several reconstructed buildings including the church, and ruins that have been uncovered by archeologists.
The Moravians were a group of German speaking immigrants from Moravia who broke off from the Catholic Church a hundred years before Luther and who to escape persecution came to America. Originally settling in Pennsylvania they bought a large piece of land in North Carolina and sent a team of men to settle it and prepare for the others to come.
They
