The e-mail I received said 175 pounds, is there a missing decimal here?
Ed Swan
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Olympia, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 6:43 AM
Subject: AP story: Armor Used by Jamestown Colonists Found
> History News Network posted this recent AP report, which may be of
> interest to many...
>
>
>
> Armor Used by Jamestown Colonists Found
>
> 04/12/05 17:52
>
> JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) - Archaeologists have discovered a piece of flexible
> armor used by Jamestown colonists to protect themselves against Indian
> attacks.
>
> ``It's marvelous to find something like that intact,'' Bly Straube, the
> project's curator of artifacts, said of the jack of plate, a
> tight-fitting, vest-like garment of overlapping armor plates that would
> have been covered in quilted canvas on both sides.
>
> Archaeologists previously have found loose plates at Jamestown, the first
> permanent English settlement in America. But this latest discovery will
> allow historians to study how the jack of plate was made.
>
> The piece of armor, weighing an estimated 175 pounds, was discovered
> Friday during excavation of a trash pit. The piece appears to date back to
> the settlement's early years, before 1610, Straube said.
>
>
> Archaeologists will have to chip away dirt to determine how much of the
> jack of plate is there. But Michael Lavin, conservator for the Association
> for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, said it appears they have at
> least the back side.
>
>
> The jack of plate was used by European armies in the 15th and 16th
> centuries. It was out of style in Europe by the time Jamestown was
> settled, but well-suited for withstanding Indian attacks, Straube said.
>
>
> ``With a garment like this you could rest the butt of the gun against your
> chest and it wouldn't slide around,'' she said. Also, Spanish settlers to
> the south found that flexible armor could stop an arrow while also
> absorbing the force.
>
>
> With other types of armor, an arrow could bounce off and hit someone
> nearby, Straube said.
>
>
> On the Net:
> Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
> http://www.apva.org
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
> Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
> 1250 Red Hill Road
> Brookneal, Virginia 24528
> www.redhill.org
> Phone 434-376-2044 or 800-514-7463
>
> Fax 434-376-2647
>
> - M. Lynn Davis, Office Manager
> - Karen Gorham-Smith, Associate Curator
> - Edith Poindexter, Curator
>
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