Over 500 artifacts are currently on exhibit in the Jamestown Settlement galleries and include both rare and everyday objects, including a wooden bellows used to craft iron by the revered blacksmiths of West Central Africa, a 1612 English map by Captain John Smith that provided the most accurate picture of Virginia for half a century, and a ritual stone face bead carved by Indigenous hands centuries ago.

• Bead, Virginia Indian, late prehistoric–contact period, JS87.05.146, Gift of James R. Coates
• Map of Virginia, “The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles,” John Smith, England 1627, JYF38463

Highlights

Informed by historical documents, period illustrations, science, archaeology, objects and oral history, the exhibits are further enriched by dioramas, films and interactives connecting visitors to narratives about the Powhatan, English and West Central African people of 17th-century Virginia. Here are some of the highlights you should not miss.

Pocahontas

Artifacts and imagery explore the myths and realities of the young Powhatan woman known to history as Pocahontas. These include a silver-mounted German stoneware jug that oral history claims was presented by Queen Anne to Pocahontas upon her visit to London in 1616. An interactive table patterned on a child’s pop-up book allows visitors to explore depictions of Pocahontas through time as well as key moments in her life as recorded in the documentary record. Pocahontas and the Powhatans of Virginia

• Silver-mounted stoneware jug, Siegburg, Germany, c. 1600, JS86.07
• Pocahontas interactive display, Jamestown Settlement

1622 Powhatan Military Offensive

Displayed in a discussion of the valiant 1622 attempt by Powhatan warriors to regain sovereignty in Tsenacommacah is a rare 16th-century English military garment known as a jack of plate. One of 16 known survivals worldwide, the iron-plated jack represents attempts by the colonists to protect themselves from lethal attacks by Powhatan bowmen. Scores of these jacks were gifted by James I after the Powhatan military offensive, but archaeology of the 1607 James Fort has shown that they were part of the colonists’ military equipment from the beginning. A film of JYF interpretive staff demonstrating the effects of both bow and arrow and musket fire on a reproduction jack of plate shows why. Jack of Plate

• Jack of plate, England, c.1580-90, JYF2018.10

African arrival

1619 marks the arrival of the first Africans in the Jamestown colony, an important milestone for the success of Virginia’s tobacco economy and for the legacy of race-based slavery in the United States. A large interactive map explains how that initial forced migration from West Central Africa happened. Visitors can learn about recent research that revealed colonist John Rolfe’s description of “20. and odd Negroes” arriving in the colony in 1619 was actually a number closer to 32. One of those individuals was a woman named Angelo who joined William Peirce’s household on Jamestown Island. Images, artifacts and a film explore Angelo’s life in Virginia as well as the culturally rich world she was forced to leave behind. Africa to Virginia

• Baule gold pendant, Ivory Coast, 17th–18th century, JYF2002.22

Women

Using graphics, objects and film, an exhibition space in the galleries connects visitors to little-known biographies of women who lived in 17th-century Virginia. An interactive display provides personal details of the 56 women who were recruited as brides for Jamestown planters in 1621. Some were skilled in dairying, which served to improve the health in the colony. But the lives of most women remained unrecorded unless they did something that challenged the patriarchal authority over them. A ducking chair in the exhibit represents the punishment that faced Virginia women who dared to express their opinions.

• Ducking Chair, English, 17th century, JYF 2018.13

See all of the artifacts and experience the Jamestown Settlement galleries in person.