- Hi, I'm Natalie, a recent addition
to the archaeological team here at Jamestown Rediscovery.
And in case you didn't know, we celebrate National Public Lands Day,
which means you definitely have to come by, check out our museum
and see what we're up to right now.
Now, we celebrate National Public Lands Day
because of our relationship with the National Park Service,
and it's through that relationship that we're really able to maintain our status
as a place that does public archaeology,
meaning we are one of the few places
that has a museum associated with active dig sites
that we really encourage you to come out and visit.
For more on the history of our relationship with the Park Service,
our museum, and our active dig sites, I'm going to hand it over
to some of the familiar archaeological faces on this channel.
- Historic Jamestowne is jointly owned
by the National Park Service and by Preservation Virginia,
and that stewardship started in 1934
when the National Park Service acquired this land
during the Great Depression.
And although this island has only been a national park since the '30s,
it also has been a place of curiosity for centuries before,
and archaeology has always been a big part of that.
Preservation Virginia first acquired the property
in an effort to try to save the historic church tower
that still stands today.
And they acquired the property in 1893,
and then quickly started to stop the erosion
on the island to preserve its history.
The women acquired the property for Preservation Virginia,
they started doing excavations out here,
including founders Mary Jeffery Galt and Mary Winder Garrett,
who did excavations around the church tower
from 1897 until 1906.
In 1907, for the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Jamestown,
PV donated land to the national government,
and then they constructed a monument for that commemoration.
Today, Historic Jamestowne sees over 200,000 visitors a year,
with tons to do.
We have museums with exhibits, archaeological excavations,
and tons of public programming that are going on year-round here.
- For the past 26 years, the archaeological team
has been out front and center, digging in front of the public
so that you can be a part of the moment of discovery.
We're always finding something new in the ground,
some new artifact or piece of Jamestown's history,
and when you guys come out to visit us,
you're a part of uncovering the history of America's birthplace.
Weather permitting, the archaeological team is out here digging year-round,
five days a week across most of the year, but seven days a week in the summer.
Now, even if we're not on site, you can still see what we've found
by coming and checking out our exhibits and our museum on site.
- So archaeology is about discovery in the field,
but what we do is put those into play,
in other words, we create exhibits based on the archaeology
and the artifacts and the things we find.
So this is an example-- behind me is a reconstruction
of the 1617 church that was put in in 2019.
Now, part of what you see here
is a vision of the past based on the archaeology.
So we excavated in here for three years, and then reconstruct that space.
So when you come to Jamestown, you can see the vision that we had,
both on-site here in the church, but also in our museum,
where the exhibits are somewhat dynamic,
as we're constantly finding things and changing what's inside.
Now, those exhibits cover everything that we're finding here.
It's a bigger picture from those fragmented stories.
- So now you've heard more about our history
and what's going on in our exhibits,
our current excavation sites, and our museum,
we really just want to thank you so much for supporting us and our channel.
Watching and sharing and commenting has all gotten back to us,
and it's been really overwhelming, so thank you very much for that.
Make sure we can thank you in person when you come out to see us
on Saturday, September 26, to celebrate National Public Lands Day.
Please visit the Historic Jamestowne website for more information about the joint partnership
between our private non-profit, Preservation Virginia,
and the National Park Service.
When you're planning on visiting, you can buy your tickets ahead online and save some money.