Jamestown skeleton could be colony founder

Researchers have permission to study graves in two England churches to determine if the remains they found are that of Jamestown co-founder Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold.

The Associated Press

JAMESTOWN, Va., Feb. 2 -- The Church of England has agreed to allow researchers using radar to look beneath two churches for remains that could determine whether a skeleton found at Jamestown is that of one of the colony's founders, scientists said Monday.


Archeologist William M. Kelso stands over the remains believed to be of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold at the Jamestown National Park in Jamestown, Va. (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Alexa Welch Edlund)

Scientists who excavated the site of a 400-year-old fort at Jamestown want to know whether a skeleton discovered there in 2003 is that of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, captain of one of the three ships that carried settlers from England.

To do so, they need to find the graves of Gosnold's sister and niece, who were buried in two churches in Suffolk, England, and conduct DNA analysis. The Church of England, which owns the sites, has agreed to allow a ground-radar survey of the graves.

If they find remains, the researchers will need permission to take bits of teeth or bone to verify whether the women's DNA matches that of the Jamestown skeleton.

Gosnold has been largely unrecognized by historians, who relied instead on written accounts by other settlers, notably Capt. John Smith. Gosnold, a former privateer, also discovered and named Massachusetts' Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard in 1602.

Story produced by
Jimmy Kunkel