Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/archeologists-unearth-more-nuanced-history-of-jamestown Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The first settlers arrived at Jamestown in Virginia 400 years ago and established the first permanent English colony in America. The NewsHour reports on archeologists' efforts to uncover the settlement's past. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. KWAME HOLMAN: In the spring of 1607, 104 men employed by a private English company arrived on the banks of the James River in what is now Virginia. There, they established a settlement, but for generations most historians portrayed their effort as a failure. The settlement has not been nearly as celebrated, nor thought as important, as the colony at Plymouth Rock, founded by the Pilgrims 13 years later.But now, a far fuller picture of how those in Jamestown actually lived, and succeeded and progressed, is emerging from the ground.WILLIAM KELSO, Director of Archeology, Jamestown Rediscovery: Am I excited? You better believe it! KWAME HOLMAN: Archaeologist William Kelso set out in 1994 to discover the settlers' original fort, long thought to have been consumed by the encroaching James River. WILLIAM KELSO: In 1994, after putting together a plan and saying, "We're going to find the fort, we're going to find buildings, we're going to find how it evolved through time, we're going to find a better understanding of the relationships between the Virginia Indians and the Englishmen," all that has come to be. KWAME HOLMAN: What did you find in the intervening years? And what story did it tell? WILLIAM KELSO: Well, what we found is the construction of the fort, where this original settlement was placed. That began to tell me more about the people and the ability of the people that came here, because this turns out to be the very best defensive position they could have chosen in the entire James River basin, and that it was — the fort was never captured by any enemy. KWAME HOLMAN: And Kelso has concluded that the settlers were not as ill-prepared and -equipped as many historians say. WILLIAM KELSO: Now what we're finding archaeologically is that they were well-equipped. We've found over a million artifacts, all kinds of things. Different sorts of objects were sent here to help them succeed, and these things were being used.They were trying industries. They were trying to make glass. They were trying to make pottery, iron. They're doing iron. They have all the equipment to fish and hunt and to live off of the land.