THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 21, 1996 TAG: 9610190050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: JAMESTOWN LENGTH: 95 lines
A BRASS SIGNET ring bearing an eagle and pewter medallions stamped with a rising phoenix, some of the latest discoveries in the Jamestown excavations, are providing tangible links to the reign of Elizabeth I of England, and to one of her country's greatest writers, Shakespeare.
``From the coins and the pottery and other things we've found, it seems they're more in keeping with what we see of the Elizabethan period, the 16th century in England, than they are with James I,'' said William Kelso, chief archaeologist on the Jamestown Fort dig.
The world of Elizabeth I, who ruled England in 1558-1603, might seem to Virginians to be relegated to old paintings and dusty tombs, quite distant from the Virginia colonists. Even the ruins of Jamestown, named after her successor, give little hint of their builders' origins.
Not anymore. And certainly not to William Kelso.
The reach of that great queen, and the vibrant society she helped create, is visible in the excitement on Kelso's face.
It's tangible, too, in the artifacts Kelso and his team are finding in the foundations of Jamestown's first fort, discovered by Kelso long after they were thought to have washed away in the James River.
``When Eric Deetz came to me, he had that look on his face that said, `I've really found something this time. I've won the lottery,' '' Kelso said.
What Deetz had found looked simple enough, though certainly a pleasant break from the endless dusting-off of pottery shards: a brass signet ring, and clearly visible through the thin, green patina of corrosion, a splayed eagle on the face, meant to be stamped into hot wax as a personal seal on documents.
When Kelso researched the seal, he found the ring apparently belonged to one of Jamestown's better-known residents, William Strachey.
``We're 99 percent sure it's Strachey's seal,'' Kelso said. ``We'll only be 100 percent sure when we've consulted with the heraldic experts in England.''
If it is Strachey's, it's not only the first item connected to him at Jamestown, it would be the first object linked to any specific colonist. All previous documentation was from historical records of the colony.
It's particularly exciting because Strachey is one of the livelier figures to populate Elizabethan history.
Strachey was a writer, among other things, who moved in the same literary circles as William Shakespeare, although it's uncertain whether they were personally acquainted. Strachey left that literary circle, for a time, to come to the colonies.
But his influence lasts until today in one of Shakespeare's better-known plays, ``The Tempest.''
In the summer of 1609, Strachey started for Virginia on the Sea Venture, one of nine ships sailing together. The ship ran into a hurricane in July and wrecked on the coast of Bermuda.
Strachey survived and eventually reached Jamestown on one of the boats built by the survivors. He wrote to a friend in London, describing the spectacular end of the Sea Venture and his subsequent adventures on Bermuda. Scholars who compared the letter to ``The Tempest'' believe Shakespeare must have read Strachey's account just as he was writing the play, which was first performed in 1611.
(In fact, historians say Strachey's tale generated considerable excitement in London and, despite the incredible hardships it described, inspired others to make the trip.)
Another of Strachey's influences can be found in the dig itself. Strachey left one of the most precise descriptions of the first fort at Jamestown, right down to the length of each wall in feet. Kelso has relied heavily on that description to guide his efforts, and so far it seems to be accurate.
``He was only here for one year, but he's very important to us,'' Kelso said. ``I'm working my way through a book on him right now. I imagine we're going to spend the winter finding out a lot about him.''
More evidence of Elizabeth's influence over the colonists is showing up in some pewter medallions which Kelso said may roughly equate to today's political buttons.
The medallions resemble coins, but they're not. They feature a phoenix on one side - one of Elizabeth's popular symbols - and her crown and the letters ``E.R.'' on the other. No, that doesn't stand for ``Emergency Room,'' it's ``Elizabeth Regina,'' Latin for ``Queen Elizabeth.''
Kelso believes the medallions were issued to help cement Elizabeth's reign over England. Some may have been issued to the soldiers who fought her wars overseas, including the legendary Captain John Smith (whose statue at Jamestown, Kelso noted, ironically points to the location of the original fort).
``This is emblematic, to me, of that whole world of adventure and Sir Francis Drake and the like,'' Kelso said. ``I think of John Smith in keeping with that. They embarked on an adventure that would be equivalent with going to the moon today. That whole spirit I see as very Elizabethan.''
The latest discoveries, along with the fort itself and the reasonably intact skeleton of a colonist, are proving a boon to the group sponsoring Kelso's dig, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Kelso's recent lecture for the association at Jamestown was sold out. ILLUSTRATION: Photo courtesy of JAMESTOWN REDISCOVERY
Pewter medallions from Jamestown are not coins. More likely they
equate to today's political buttons.
JAMESTOWN REDISCOVERY
Researchers have linked this signet ring to one of Jamestown's
better-known residents, William Strachey. by CNB