Collecting Jamestown: Part 1

I have decided to collect Jamestown.
   A couple of months ago, I did a three-part series on set collecting. Indeed, creating sets is the hallmark of the true collector. Governed by a few simple rules -- such as, each coin must play a unique role in the collection, and the no two alike criterion -- true collectors are meaning-makers, artists even, striving to understand their world one coin/one relic at a time.
   For coin collectors (albeit, those who chase after old pieces -- the necromancers if you will), the quote by Maurice Rheims captures the allure (see my post dated August 9, 2015). Here is the quote: "One of the collector's most entrancing daydreams is the imaginary joy of uncovering the past in the guise of an archaeologist." So true, so true!
   Now, back to Jamestown.

Inside the replica fort.

   One of the great things about being raised in the Tidewater, VA, area during the 1970s was that we got to visit Jamestown in the 4th grade. We piled on the yellow bus, and next thing you know, our class was crowding into the wigwams of Powhatan's village, climbing on the Susan (Sarah for some) Constant, and marveling at the ordinance within the palisades of the fort.
   But there was one disappointment: The actual location of James Fort was unknown at the time. I wanted desperately to stand on the hallowed ground, to stand on the bones of those who struggled to start the first English colony in the New World. And there were bones, as nearly 80% of the first settlers died during the "starving time" of 1609-10. In fact, the colony was briefly abandoned in June of 1610.
   So, where was the fort?
   Some said that it had washed away. This was only partly true, as unbeknownst to many, a seawall built near the old brick church had saved much of the fort. William Kelso, the Head Archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, suspected as much, and so the broad end of his shovel hit the ground in April 1994. It only took a few months to discover a line of darkened soil spots, rounded like timbers, that represented the remains of the south palisade of the fort!
   My childhood memories were sparked by this news. I finally visited Jamestown about a year ago. Wow! So many crusty artifacts had been unearthed -- including many coins and jetons. What a wonderful collection it was. Kelso described some of it as it came to light in his book: Jamestown: The Buried Truth. Other bits have been photographed and described on the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) website.
   And so, I have decided to collect similar items as found at Jamestown. This idea has been percolating for some time now. I want to get as close to the actual objects as I can: same pieces, same condition, same relative numbers (within reason of course, as this does violate the no two alike criterion that shapes taxonomic  collecting -- but this is not that; and besides, collecting rules are meant to be broken).
   This, this is how a necromancer collects. And who knows what will happen when these pieces come together in my collection? Maybe something magical, something ghostly, something like the field of dreams -- I expect no less!