Analysis of Jamestown Tombstone Suggests Connection to Europe

 

According to a Gizmodo report, paleontologist Marcus Key of Dickinson College has analyzed a black limestone tombstone found in the 1617 church at Jamestown. The stone, which features the outline of a person dressed in armor and likely holding a shield and sword, is believed to have been carved for a knight. This suggests that the tombstone may have belonged to Sir Thomas West, who died in 1618 while en route to Jamestown, or Sir George Yeardley, the slave-owning colonial governor.

Key’s analysis revealed microfossils of foraminiferans, single-celled organisms embedded in the limestone. These species are not found anywhere in North America but are common in parts of England, Ireland, and Belgium. Key explained that historical records of similar colonial tombstones around the Chesapeake Bay point to Belgium as the likely source of the stone. He theorizes that the stone was shipped from Belgium to London, where it was carved and inlaid with brass, a fashionable trend of the time, before being sent to Jamestown.