Nov. 21, 2006 —Bones discovered four years ago at the site of America's first permanent English settlement could be those of Jamestown's unsung founder, a knight or a captain.
A tooth analysis did not rule out that the skeleton is, as Jamestown researchers had theorized, that of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, principal organizer of the expedition from England that established Jamestown in 1607. Next year marks the settlement's 400th anniversary.
But test results released Monday also suggest two other possible candidates: Sir Ferdinando Wenman, the master of ordnance at Jamestown, and Capt. Gabriel Archer, a lawyer who was the first recorder of Jamestown.
Gosnold is still the leading candidate, based on historical, archaeological and forensic evidence, said William Kelso, director of archaeology at the Jamestown site.
"I still think the evidence lines up, until proven otherwise, that we have Gosnold," Kelso said in a telephone interview.
The Church of England, however, says the Jamestown skeleton is likely that of someone other than Gosnold. A tooth analysis of a skeleton buried in a church grave in Shelley, England, suggests it is that of Gosnold's sister, Elizbeth Gosnold Tilney. However, DNA tests on the two skeletons don't match, showing they're not related.
"While it would appear that the body discovered in Jamestown is not Gosnold, the coffin with the staff makes it clear that it is the grave of an important early settler," said James Halsall, spokesman for the Diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
