New Discoveries at Jamestown | Page 5

the museum. Undoubtedly this belonged to a detached kitchen. The second is a small, but thick-walled, rectangular structure of brick which may have been a food storehouse or even a powder magazine.
[Illustration: ALTHOUGH MOST JAMESTOWN WORKSHOPS WERE PROBABLY MADE OF FRAMEWORK AND WERE MERELY SHEDS, ONE BRICK FOUNDATION HAS THREE BRICK FIREBOXES AND A LARGE BRICK CHIMNEY. THIS STRUCTURE WAS PROBABLY A BREW HOUSE, BAKERY, OR DISTILLERY.]
Workshop Structures
Most of the early industries at Jamestown were undoubtedly housed in perishable wooden structures that have left the least evident traces, such as frame sheds for forges and wine presses, carpenters' shops, and buildings used by various artisans and craftsmen. So far, only two industrial structures are clearly recognizable (aside from kilns), although their precise use is not certain.
One of these, on the edge of Pitch and Tar Swamp, was a nearly square, tile-floored workshop with a rough but substantial brick foundation supporting the framework of the walls. On the floor were 3 fireboxes, 2 of which were associated with a large chimney area. What was fabricated here has not yet been determined, although ceramic firing, brewing, distilling, and even ironworking, have been suggested. Proximity of pottery and lime-burning kilns, and a small pit where iron may have been smelted, may be significant.
A second, very fragmentary brick foundation close to the present riverbank suggests a shop rather than a house, but lacks firebox evidence or other identifying features. It may be 18th- rather than 17th-century.
[Illustration: NEAR THE FOUNDATION OF THE PROBABLE BAKE SHOP, A PAIR OF KILNS ONCE SERVED FOR SLAKING LIME, AND PERHAPS FOR FIRING POTTERY. BETWEEN THE KILNS WAS A FLAME-SCARRED PIT CONTAINING EVIDENCE OF IRONWORKING AND THE ROASTING OF BOG ORE FOR IRON.]
Brick Walks or Paved Areas
It is difficult to assign a use for certain areas which have been paved apparently with brick rubble, or, in more evident cases, by flatlaid bricks. Four such paved areas have been discovered.
Brick Drains
Three brick drains, buried beneath the humus line, are identified with 17th-century houses.
Ice Storage Pit
So far unique on Jamestown Island is a circular unlined pit, 14 feet in top diameter, excavated 7 feet into a sandy substratum, and corresponding in general character to known 17th-and 18th-century ice pits in England. This pit which lies 250 feet east of the Visitor Center may have served a spacious house which once stood nearby. It may be assumed that the missing surface structure was circular, probably of brick, had a small door, and was roofed over with thatch or sod for insulation.
Kilns
Both brick and lime kilns are present in the "James Citty" area, each type being represented by four examples. The oldest of four brick kilns so far discovered on the island is a small rectangular pit near Orchard Run, excavated to a floor depth of 4 feet, which has been dated between 1607 and 1625 by associated cultural objects. This small pit, without structural brick, was a brick-making "clamp," consisting of unfired brick built up over two firing chambers. There is good evidence that a pottery kiln was situated 30 feet west of the "industrial area."
Ironworking Pits
Also in the "industrial area" near Pitch and Tar Swamp, there is a circular pit in which lime, bog iron, and charcoal suggest the manufacture of iron. The previously mentioned pit within the area of the Confederate Fort yielded sword parts, gun parts, bar iron, and small tools, indicating a forge site, perhaps an armorer's forge.
[Illustration: MAKING POTTERY AT JAMESTOWN. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]
[Illustration: HOW AN IRONWORKING PIT WAS USED. (From contemporary sources.)]
[Illustration: CROSS SECTION OF A BRICK-CASED WELL AT JAMESTOWN. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]
[Illustration: ONE OF THE INTRIGUING MYSTERIES OF JAMESTOWN IS HOW THE LEFT LEG AND LEFT HALF OF A HUMAN PELVIS CAME TO BE THROWN WITH OTHER REFUSE INTO A WELL BEHIND THE ROW HOUSE. THE LOGICAL INFERENCE IS THAT A REBEL OR CRIMINAL HAD BEEN HANGED, DRAWN, AND QUARTERED.]
Wells
At Jamestown, wells are conspicuous features near many house locations. Those that have been found may be summarized as follows: wood lined--1; circular, brick cased--10; circular, uncased with wooden barrel at bottom--6; circular, uncased, incompletely excavated--4.
Wells are invariably found filled with earth mixed with trash, mainly food animal bones. A well, located immediately north of the row house, had a human left leg and left half of the pelvis buried in the fill at a depth of 4 feet.
Ditches
The most significant feature determining landholdings are the ditches of the Jamestown area. During the 1954-56 explorations 63 ditches were added to the 33 previously discovered, thus increasing the opportunity to delineate property lines, many of which used to be bounded by such ditches.
[Illustration: CAREFUL EXCAVATION WAS REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY THE FILL OF LONG-OBLITERATED DITCHES ONCE DRAINING FIELDS AND MARKING PROPERTY BOUNDARIES.]
Refuse Pits
"James Citty," like all other settlements in all ages, had to