Posted on 06/14/2005 12:57:16 PM PDT by SmithL
SHELLEY, England -- Archaeologists trying to exhume the remains of the sister of one of the founders of the first permanent English settlement in North America have found what they believe is her 400-year-old burial shaft and hope to find her body soon.
They want to use DNA from the remains to find out whether a skeleton unearthed in Virginia is that of Capt. Bartholemew Gosnold, who oversaw an expedition that led to the founding of Jamestown in 1607.
British and American researchers began digging Monday beneath the floor of the 12th-century Church of All Saints, where Gosnold's sister, Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney, is believed to be buried with her husband.
A 17th-century skeleton found two years ago near Jamestown was buried with a decorative staff carried by sea captains and is the right age to be Gosnold's, said William Kelson, director of archaeology at the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
"We know we have the body of a captain," Kelson said. "We are just taking (identification) one step further" with DNA testing.
Based on records, archaeologists believe Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney is buried underneath the church floor in the English village of Shelley, 60 miles northeast of London.
The inscription in brass on a ledger stone believed to mark the grave has worn off, but archaeologists are confident they have found the right spot.
After raising the stone, the researchers located the burial shaft and are now digging down to locate the graves of husband and wife, who are believed to lie side by side.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Gosnold got the decorative staff...and his sister got the shaft?
btt
We don't have treaties with the British to protect their sacred burial grounds? Surely no one would be allowed to disturb the spirits of the dead. Or am I thinking of some other group?
Cool! I love to read stories like this!
:Oh for pete's sake. What important reason could their be for diggging up this grave except to make some people feel good and help somones PhD dissertation.
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