Since the remains of a person were located in the oldest portion of a Jamestown church, there was a consensus as to who they belonged to. However, thanks to modern analysis, DNA has ruled out the remains from the ancient fort church as belonging to a prominent Jamestown leader.
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Archaeologists involved in the excavation of Memorial Church believed that the remains found in the chancel of the church built in the early 1600s belonged to Sir George Yeardley, who came to Jamestown in 1610.
It was believed that Sir Yeardley was buried in the church given his social standing in the community. Sir Yeardley served as lord governor of Virginia from 1618 until 1621. At that time, Sir Yeardley wanted to pursue other interests. But after Charles I decided to rule Virginia as a royal colony, Sir Yeardley pleaded with him to return the power to the colony. In doing so, he was again named lord governor in 1626 until his death in 1627.
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At the time of his death, Sir Yeardley was one of the richest and one of the largest landowners in Virginia. Given his position in office, in conjunction with his social status, it made sense to archaeologists that Sir Yeardley would be identified as the person buried in Memorial Church.
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DNA Ruled Out Sir George Yeardley As The Identity Of Remains Found In Ancient Jamestown Fort Church
For years, it was believed that Sir George Yeardley was the person who was buried within the oldest portions of the ancient Jamestown fort church, Memorial Church. As DNA analysis became possible, many archaeologists thought their hypotheses would be correct. But, much to their surprise, this was not the case. Sir George Yeardley was not buried in Memorial Church, leaving a mystery to be solved to determine just who was buried in the oldest portion of the church.
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DNA was used to compare relatives of Sir George Yeardley with the remains found in the church. Given that the remains are from the early 1600s, that meant generations of relatives needed to be found to find a living person who could and would be willing to contribute their DNA for analysis.
The DNA had to be collected from a living female relative of Yeardley's sister, as the mitochondrial genome in the DNA is passed down from mother to child.
Dave Annal, a professional genealogist, was hired to trace Yeardley's family tree to locate these women. After months of research, 10 people were located who were Katherine Yeardley's descendants. Of those, one was willing to give their DNA. Unfortunately, the DNA did not match Sir Yeardley's.
While it was disappointing not to have a match, what the DNA did allow was for more people to be tested against it in the future when archaeologists determine who the remains may belong to.
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Who Archaeologists Believe The Remains In The Church Belong To
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At this point, it is unclear who the remains found in the Jamestown church belong to. Archaeologists will have to start again with their research to see if any clues are unearthed as more of the oldest portions of the church are excavated.
What is known at this point, according to WHRO, is that the grave found in the chancel of the church is believed to have belonged to a prominent person in the community. The individual is believed to be a European male, between the ages of 38 and 44 years old. The individual did not do hard labor during his life, which was proven upon examination of his remains.
There was once a tombstone at the site of the grave. But, over the centuries, according to the publication, the acidic earth wore away any ability to determine the identity of the person buried in the church before it was built over by a newer brick building in the mid-1600s.
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Therefore, the search goes on to identify just who was buried in the oldest, yet most exclusive portion of the Jamestown Memorial Church. As technology advances, more answers will be found, and, hopefully, in the near future, the Jamestown resident who is currently a mystery will be identified.